GENEVA - Members of the World Health Organization have adopted a landmark agreement on how to prepare for future pandemics following the Covid-19 outbreak, which killed millions of people between the years of 2020 and 2022.
After three years of negotiations, the legally binding pact was approved on Tuesday by the World Health Assembly in Geneva. WHO member countries welcomed its passing with applause.
The text of the agreement was finalised by consensus last month, following multiple rounds of tense negotiations.
The United States pulled out of those talks, following US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw his country from the WHO, a process that takes one year to complete.
The pact is widely seen as a victory for members of the global health agency at a time when multilateral organisations like the WHO have been battered by sharp cuts in US foreign funding.
“The agreement is a victory for public health, science and multilateral action. It will ensure we, collectively, can better protect the world from future pandemic threats,” said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The agreement aims to better detect and combat pandemics by focusing on greater international coordination and surveillance, and more equitable access to vaccines and treatments.
The treaty faced a late challenge on Monday when Slovakia called for a vote, as its vaccine-sceptic prime minister demanded that his country challenge the adoption of the agreement.
One hundred and twenty-four countries voted in favour, no countries voted against, while 11 countries, including Poland, Israel, Italy, Russia, Slovakia and Iran, abstained.