After more than three years of talks under the auspices of the World Health Organization (WHO), countries have finalized a draft global agreement on pandemic preparedness and response. According to the UN, the draft agreement “outlines a framework for strengthening international collaboration, equity and resilience in the face of future global health threats.”
WHO member States established an intergovernmental negotiating body (INB) to develop such an instrument in December 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Following 13 formal rounds of negotiations and numerous informal and intersessional meetings, the INB finalized a proposal for the WHO Pandemic Agreement on 16 April 2025. The draft will now be presented to the 78th World Health Assembly for its consideration. The Assembly is scheduled to convene from 19-27 May.
A UN news release notes that following the announcement it would withdraw from WHO, the US did not participate in the final round of talks and will not be bound by the agreement.
“In reaching consensus on the Pandemic Agreement, not only did [countries] put in place a generational accord to make the world safer, they have also demonstrated that multilateralism is alive and well, and that in our divided world, nations can still work together to find common ground, and a shared response to shared threats,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
According to a WHO news release, proposals in the agreement text include establishing a pathogen access and benefit-sharing system and taking concrete measures on pandemic prevention, including through One Health – an approach that unifies the health of people, animals, and ecosystems.
The draft also contains provisions on: building geographically diverse research and development capacities; facilitating the transfer of technology and related knowledge, skills, and expertise for the production of pandemic-related health products; mobilizing a skilled, trained, and multidisciplinary national and global health emergency workforce; setting up a coordinating financial mechanism; taking concrete measures to strengthen preparedness, readiness, and health system functions and resilience; and establishing a global supply chain and logistics network.
At the same time, the proposal affirms the sovereignty of countries in addressing public health matters within their borders, noting that nothing in the draft agreement shall be interpreted as providing WHO any authority to direct, order, alter, or prescribe national laws or policies, or mandate States to take specific actions, such as ban or accept travelers, impose vaccination mandates or therapeutic or diagnostic measures, or implement lockdowns.
INB Co-Chair Anne-Claire Amprou said the draft represents “a major step in strengthening the global health security architecture” and is an “historic agreement for health security, equity and international solidarity.”
The WHO Director-General also emphasized the agreement’s importance for future generations. “By building a strong framework for pandemic preparedness and response, we ensure they inherit a safer and healthier world,” he said. [UN News Release] [WHO News Release]