The World Health Organization (WHO) on May 20 approved a pandemic agreement that is aimed at preventing, preparing for, and responding to future health emergencies.
The treaty says countries shall adopt a “One Health approach” by taking measures to identify and address factors that start pandemics. It says that countries must train workers to prepare for and respond to health emergencies and take steps to strengthen health systems, including improving vaccine coverage.
One section outlines how pharmaceutical companies that volunteer will provide the WHO with 20 percent of their vaccines, medicines, and tests. The WHO will then distribute the products “on the basis of public health risk and need, with particular attention to the needs of developing countries.”
The exact process will be laid out in a future agreement that will be considered at the 2026 World Health Assembly.
The consensus vote took place during the assembly on Tuesday, a day after a committee meeting in which 124 countries voted in favor, zero objected, and 11 abstained.
The approval of the agreement followed three years of negotiations.
Hellbound and Down 