Pandemic Treaty Falters as Talks End Without Agreement

Talks on the WHO Pandemic Treaty have ended without an agreed text, with the next steps up for debate, putting the treaty at risk. The Gazette has more.

Talks to draw up a global pact to help fight future pandemics have ended without a draft agreement, sources close to the process said on Friday.

Negotiators from the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) 194 member states were hoping to have a final draft agreement by the end of Friday, with a view towards adopting the legally-binding text at the World Health Assembly later this month.

But they stopped negotiating on the text at lunchtime and have moved instead to working out how best to continue work on the treaty – either in the next few weeks, months or even years, one official said.

The aim of the document, alongside a series of updates to existing rules on dealing with pandemics, is to shore up the world’s defences against new pathogens after the COVID-19 pandemic killed millions of people.

But there have been deep disagreements throughout the negotiating process, particularly around equity, and the timeline for reaching an agreement was always ambitious, experts said. The accord, commonly known as a treaty, has also become politicised in some countries.

Worth reading in full.

The WHO issued a press release on Friday where it claimed negotiations will continue on the draft text ahead of the vote on May 27th.

Governments of the world today agreed to continue working on a proposed pandemic agreement, and to further refine the draft, ahead of the 77th World Health Assembly that starts May 27th 2024.

Governments meeting at the World Health Organisation headquarters in Geneva agreed to resume hybrid and in-person discussions over coming weeks to advance work on critical issues, including around a proposed new global system for pathogen access and benefits sharing (i.e., life-saving vaccines, treatments and diagnostics); pandemic prevention and One Health; and the financial coordination needed to scale up countries’ capacities to prepare for and respond to pandemics.

However, with no text agreed in the current talks, the prospect of arriving at a draft that can be put to a vote at the end of May is looking increasingly remote.