WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced that member states have reached a historic agreement on pandemic response after over three years of negotiations. The draft agreement, which includes measures such as enhanced technology-sharing and establishing a pathogen access and benefit sharing system, will be presented for consideration at the World Health Assembly in May.

Tedros emphasized that the agreement demonstrates the strength of multilateralism and the ability for nations to work together. He expressed hope for the agreement’s adoption by the World Health Assembly. The negotiations, which involved more than 13 formal rounds, did not include the United States due to former President Donald Trump’s decision to cancel US membership of the WHO in 2021.

Despite previous failed attempts to reach a deal, particularly due to disagreements over intellectual property and vaccine access, the agreement reached includes provisions aimed at increasing equity and protecting future generations from pandemic suffering. South Africa’s Precious Matsoso, one of the negotiation ambassadors, highlighted the understanding that viruses do not respect borders and that collective health security is crucial.

Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/4/16/countries-reach-landmark-deal-on-tackling-future-pandemics-who-says?traffic_source=rss