WHO member states reach pandemic preparedness agreement
"The nations of the world made history in Geneva today," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.
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World Health Organization executives, inlucind Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (third from the right) celebrate on Wednesday after member states agreed to a draft proposal on pandemic preparedness in Geneva, Switzerland. (Photo Credit: WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus/X)
April 17 (UPI) -- World Health Organization member states have reached consensus on a draft agreement that aims to strengthen global preparedness for future pandemics.
Negotiations began more than three years ago on the proposal, which will not be voted on during May's World Health Assembly.
The agreement establishes concrete measures for pandemic prevention, builds geographically diverse research and development capabilities and facilitates the transfer of technology and related knowledge for the production of pandemic-related health products, among a slew of other initiatives.
It also affirms the sovereignty of countries to address public health matters within their own borders and does not give WHO the authority to direct, order, alter or prescribe national laws or policies.
"The nations of the world made history in Geneva today," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.
"In reaching consensus on the Pandemic Agreement, not only did they 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."
The Intergovernmental Negotiating Body was established at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in December 2021 with the mission to draft an agreement to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.
The United States is no longer a member of the WHO.
U.S. President Donald Trump, on his first day in office, withdrew the United States from the international health organization, which he had criticized during his first term in office, accusing it of mismanaging and attempting to cover up the origins of COVID-19.
Trump withdrew the United States from the WHO during his first term, only for President Joe Biden to later re-establish relations with the organization.
More than 7.1 million people have died from COVID-19, according to the WHO.
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