World Health Organization (WHO) officials celebrated agreeing on a draft pandemic treaty on Wednesday morning. But it is unclear whether serious concerns about handing the almost 200-member state body unprecedented powers to dictate public health policies around the world have yet been properly seen to.
After over 3 years of negotiations, WHO Member States have finalized a draft #PandemicAccord to make the world safer from future pandemics.
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) April 16, 2025
The draft agreement will now be submitted to WHO’s Member States meeting at the #WHA78 for consideration and adoption
Proposals within the… pic.twitter.com/l9lcErUSvo
WHO members agreed on the draft after more than three years of negotiations. Reports say these have most recently dealt with rules on drug and vaccine sharing between wealthy and poor nations, as well as on the establishment of national policies setting conditions in research and development agreements.
It will now be subject to adoption by the World Health Assembly in May and ratification by member states.
The draft agreement comes in spite of—or, perhaps, thanks to—the withdrawal of U.S. negotiators earlier this year after President Donald Trump began the process of leaving the organisation. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage also told europeanconservative.com in January that if his party gains power at the next general election, it will make “immediate statements of intent,” including on “WHO funding scepticism.”
WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus said the draft agreement has “demonstrated that multilateralism is alive and well, and that
In our divided world, nations can still work together to find common ground, and a shared response to shared threats.
The organisation also stressed that the “proposal affirms the sovereignty of countries to address public health matters within their borders,” although critics will no doubt want to make up their own minds on this matter as more details emerge.
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