WHO Adopts Landmark Pandemic Agreement To Strengthen Global Preparedness

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday adopted a landmark Pandemic Agreement aimed at improving global coordination and preparedness for future health crises. The accord comes after more than three years of negotiations triggered by the chaotic global response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Adopted during the WHO’s annual decision-making assembly in Geneva, the agreement seeks to prevent the disjointed and unequal pandemic responses seen during Covid-19 by enhancing international cooperation, surveillance, and equitable access to vaccines and treatments.

“It’s a historic day,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told AFP after the vote.

The agreement’s text was finalized last month by consensus following multiple rounds of difficult negotiations. However, the United States had pulled out of the talks after then-President Donald Trump initiated the country’s withdrawal from the WHO—a process that takes a year to complete.

“The world is safer today thanks to the leadership, collaboration and commitment of our member states to adopt the historic WHO Pandemic Agreement,” Tedros said in an official statement.

“The agreement is a victory for public health, science, and multilateral action. It will ensure we, collectively, can better protect the world from future pandemic threats. It is also a recognition by the international community that our citizens, societies, and economies must not be left vulnerable to again suffer losses like those endured during Covid-19.”

Path Toward Implementation

At the heart of the agreement is a commitment to stronger global surveillance systems, timely data sharing, and ensuring fair access to vaccines, diagnostics, and treatments during health emergencies.

A key element still under development is the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) mechanism, which outlines how countries will share samples of potential pandemic pathogens and how the resulting benefits—such as vaccines or treatments—will be equitably distributed.

Countries have until May 2026 to finalize the details of the PABS system. Once agreed upon, the full treaty will require at least 60 national ratifications to enter into force.

The negotiations were often tense, particularly between wealthy and developing nations. Many developing countries felt excluded from timely access to Covid-19 vaccines and were determined to prevent similar inequities in the future.

The agreement also drew criticism from those concerned it could infringe on national sovereignty. However, the treaty’s co-chairs, South Africa’s Precious Matsoso and France’s ambassador for global health Anne-Claire Amprou, emphasized that it respects national authority.

“It is intended to create a rules-based, future-proof system that will stand the test of time. It does not, and will not, undermine the sovereignty of countries,” Amprou told the assembly on Monday.

“In a time of growing geopolitical tensions and seismic changes, this agreement is proof that the world is still together.”