LONDON – Talks aimed at reaching a global agreement on how to better fight pandemics will be concluded by 2025 or earlier, if possible, the World Health Organization said on Saturday.
The WHO’s 194 member states have been negotiating for two years on an agreement that could increase collaboration before and during pandemics after the acknowledged failures during COVID-19.
The UN-agency had initially aimed for an agreement this week, but talks have been extended amid deep divisions between rich and poorer countries on issues like vaccine-sharing and preparedness.
Countries did, however, reach a parallel deal to update existing legally-binding health rules, known as the International Health Regulations (IHR), which includes a new category of “pandemic emergency” for the most significant and globally threatening health crises.
“The historic decisions taken today demonstrate a common desire by member states to protect their own people, and the world’s, from the shared risk of public health emergencies and future pandemics,” WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.
“With this agreement, we take steps to hold countries accountable and strengthen measures to stop outbreaks before they threaten Americans and our security,” said US Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra on Saturday.
The changes to the global health rules were aimed at shoring up the world’s defenses against new pathogens after COVID-19 killed more than 7 million people, according to WHO data.
Last week, health officials voiced frustration with the negotiations that have been dogged by lengthy discussions past midnight, last-minute shifts in position, and growing criticism from right-wing commentators that the treaty would undermine sovereignty, which the WHO strongly denies.
In a symbol of the resistance, a truck with a sign reading “NO to the Pandemic Treaty.
STOP the UN Power Grab” was seen near the U.N. headquarters in Geneva where the talks were taking place.
Ministers from among the WHO’s member states were seeking to wrap up more than two years of negotiations on new rules for responding to pandemics during the May 27-June 1 World Health Assembly after COVID-19 killed millions.
A health diplomat said reforms to the process were being considered as well as an extension of between 5-24 months.
