The World Health Organization (WHO) has successfully adopted a new pandemic agreement aimed at enhancing global preparedness for future health crises. The World Health Assembly, meeting in Geneva, reached the agreement after three years of deliberations. This progressive move received the backing of more than 120 nations. Notably, the United States abstained from participating in the agreement’s final stages, reflecting ongoing tensions between the US and the WHO.
The pandemic agreement mandates that manufacturers allocate a minimum of 20% of their vaccines, medicines, and tests to the WHO during a pandemic. This provision is intended to ensure that people in developing countries have fair access to vital health tools. It directly addresses a key need exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
US Response and Criticism
Close to half a billion people around the world fought for this agreement. US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. expressed his most unsparing condemnation of the WHO’s direction. He made the case that as with many missteps in WHO’s pandemic response, it has failed to learn from these past mistakes.
“It has doubled down with the pandemic agreement which will lock in all of the dysfunction of the WHO pandemic response … We’re not going to participate in that,” – Robert F Kennedy Jr
Under that administration’s leadership, the United States made the unfortunate decision to withdraw from the WHO. This much-anticipated decision has made irreversible implications for the future of international health cooperation. It was clear during the voting just how much that absence was felt. Though no countries voted against the agreement, 11 countries—Poland, Israel, Italy, Russia, Slovakia and Iran among them—chose to abstain from voting.
Global Support and Significance
Unlike the US position, most countries celebrated the adoption of the pandemic agreement. Australia’s Health Minister Mark Butler was quick to underscore the importance of this new step in building the global health security.
“The next pandemic is not a matter of if, but when,” – Mark Butler
“This agreement is a major step forward for public health and for our shared aspiration of a more interconnected, multilateral world,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. Most importantly, he noted that this partnership would help strengthen our global defenses to future pandemics and promote health equity around the world.
“The agreement is a victory for public health, science and multilateral action,” – Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
Future Negotiations and Implementation
Negotiations over the implementation details of the pandemic agreement will begin in July. The focus will be on establishing frameworks that ensure timely access to vaccines and treatments for all countries, particularly those with fewer resources.
With the adoption of this agreement, the WHO aims to build a more resilient global health system capable of responding effectively to pandemics. In its work, the organization recognizes that lessons learned from COVID-19 should be the basis for developing plans to avoid similar crises in the future.
