Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the draft agreement shows that multilateralism is “living and well.”
After more than three years of negotiations, World Health Organization members have reached a groundbreaking agreement on how to respond to the future pandemic, global health organizations say.
The draft agreement, which was prepared after more than 13 formal negotiations, will be presented for consideration by the World Health Parliament in May, the WHO said Wednesday.
Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that member states can make history by demonstrating that multilateralism is “living,” and that states can “collaborate to find common positions.”
“We look forward to considering the World Health Parliament’s agreement and hope for it to be adopted,” Tedros said.
The WHO has been working on the agreement since 2021, calling for a plan to coordinate the global response to Covid-19 and provide a better response to the next health crisis.
The US was not involved in the final round of consultations after US President Donald Trump issued an executive order cancelling WHO’s US membership in February.
Member States were unable to reach the transaction by the May 2024 deadline amid differences of opinion regarding intellectual property and access to vaccines.
The contract reached Wednesday includes commitments to strengthen technology and knowledge sharing, mobilize an interdisciplinary global health emergency workforce, and establish a “system of access to pathogens and profit sharing” among other regulations.
South Africa’s precious Matososo, one of the six ambassadors who led the negotiations, said the agreement “helps fairness” and “protects future generations from the suffering and losses they suffered during the Covid-19 pandemic.”
“Negotiations have sometimes been difficult and prolonged, but this monumental effort is maintained by a common understanding that the virus does not respect borders and that it is not safe from the pandemic until everyone is safe, and we want to deepen our deep belief in collective health safety.
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