After three years of negotiations, members of the World Health Assembly of the World Health Organisation (WHO) adopted a landmark agreement in Geneva on Tuesday, the 20th of May, on how to prepare for future pandemics after the Covid-19 outbreak that killed millions of people between 2020 and 2022, according to Politico.
The agreement faced a late challenge on Monday when Slovakia demanded a vote as its vaccine sceptic prime minister demanded his country challenge the agreement.
One hundred and twenty-four countries voted in favour of the legally binding pact, no country voted against and 11 countries abstained, including Poland, Israel, Italy, Russia, Slovakia and Iran.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the agreement will make the world safer and better protected against future pandemic threats.
“This agreement is a victory for public health, science and multilateral action,” said Tedros. “It is also a recognition by the international community that our citizens, societies and economies must not be left vulnerable to suffer again the losses of Covid-19.”
The pandemic agreement can only be signed and approved once details such as how information, medicines and vaccines will be exchanged have been agreed. However, Tuesday’s decision is a major milestone because at one point it looked as if the difficult negotiations could break down.
According to the resolution approved on Monday evening, a decision on the new pathogen access and benefit sharing (PABS) system must be taken by the next World Health Assembly in May 2026.
THE PLANNED AGREEMENT AIMS TO IMPROVE DISEASE SURVEILLANCE, STRENGTHEN PREVENTION AND ENSURE FAIRER ACCESS TO MEDICINES AND VACCINES IN CRISIS SITUATIONS.
Although it does not meet all the initial demands of developing countries, diplomats see it as a step towards fairer global health rules.
“This agreement should be seen as a foundation on which to build, starting today,” said Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of New Zealand and co-chair of the Independent Commission on Pandemic Preparedness and Response.
“There are still many gaps in finance, in equitable access to medical countermeasures and in understanding the changing risks,” said Clark. “Don’t wait to get started. Dangerous pathogens are looming, and they certainly won’t wait.”
A new working group set up to discuss the details of the PABS system will meet by the 15th of July.