G7 health ministers praised South Africa on Monday for the work it has done in detecting the new Omicron variant and alerting others, and said they would work together to monitor the strain.
"Ministers praised the exemplary work of South Africa in both detecting the variant and alerting others to it," a joint statement issued after a virtual meeting said. "There was strong support to set up an international pathogen surveillance network within the framework of the World Health Organization (WHO)."
The G7 health ministers also said they recognised the strategic relevance of ensuring access to vaccines, and would take forward their donation commitments.
(Reporting by Alistair Smout and Kate Holton, editing by Paul Sandle)
