The Agreement aims to alert the global community to the issue of future pandemics, learn lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, and develop activities aimed at prevention and preparedness for epidemics that may occur in the future. The Agreement particularly includes an Article (7) on access to technology, which will aim to encourage innovative options as support for protecting citizens globally from future pandemics.
Key Highlights
- The agreement reached in Geneva on December 5-7 by the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB), composed of 194 WHO member states, was the first step in a global process to learn lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic and prevent future pandemics and their impact on the global community.
- The INB Bureau is comprised of six delegates, one from each of the six WHO regions and it will develop the zero draft of the pandemic accord in order to start negotiations at the fourth INB meeting.
- This draft will be based on the conceptual zero draft and the discussions had during last week’s INB meeting.
- The WHO pandemic agreement is being considered with a view to its adoption under Article 19 of the WHO Constitution.
Next steps
- The “zero draft” of the pandemic agreement, rooted in the WHO Constitution, will be discussed by Member States on 27 February 2023 at the fourth INB meeting.
