After years of tense talks and late-night sessions, countries have reached a major turning point.
“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,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus.
This follows a draft global agreement that countries have now finalised. The World Health Organisation, WHO, has said that the agreement is aimed at improving how the world prepares for and responds to pandemics. The draft will be sent to the World Health Assembly in May for adoption.
The deal is the outcome of over three years of negotiations launched in December 2021 at the peak of the COVID-19 crisis when WHO member states agreed that the world needed a legally binding tool to better handle pandemics. An Intergovernmental Negotiating Body, INB, was set up to lead the process.
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Talks dragged across 13 formal negotiation rounds, some stretching into early mornings, before finally reaching a consensus during an overnight session this week.
The UN health agency, in a statement on the 16th of April, 2025, said that the agreement was developed after more than three years of negotiations under the auspices of the WHO.
According to the agency, the draft outlines a framework for strengthening international collaboration, equity and resilience in the face of future global health threats.
As the world watches, May’s vote at the World Health Assembly could mark the beginning of a new era in pandemic preparedness.