Road race to reach agreement at WHO on pandemics – Marathon negotiations and disagreements

More than 50 former heads of state and government and dozens of other officials are engaged in a street race in order for their member countries to reach an agreement on prevention immediately. This week and the following (18-22.03.2024 and 25-29.03.2024) talks are held in Geneva with a view to finding common ground for the members of the World Health Organization (WHO) to agree on a common text against the pandemic before the May deadline. Despite the many rounds of negotiations, there are still disagreements between member countries about the common text of the agreement. Apparently, those who sign the appeal fear that the text will not be ready to be adopted at the World Health Assembly, which will be held in May 2024 on the banks of Lake Geneva. ‘ An agreement on pandemics is vital to ensure our collective future. Only a strong global agreement against pandemics can protect future generations from a repetition of the COVID-19 crisis, which led to millions of deaths and caused widespread social and economic destruction, mainly due to insufficient international cooperation”, underlines the signatories led by Gordon Brown and Helen Clark, who have previously served as Prime Ministers of Britain and New Zealand respectively. As they say they are convinced that sooner or later a new pandemic may appear, they warn: “There is no excuse for not being ready for her”. “Therefore it is imperative to develop an effective, in many areas and multilateral approach to preventing, preparing and addressing pandemics”. The idea of an international agreement on this issue was born in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The negotiated agreement aims to guarantee better preparation worldwide and a fairer response to future pandemics, as COVID-19 quickly showed the limits of global solidarity as soon as the first vaccines appeared, in insufficient quantities. In January, WHO head Tedros Adamom Gebregisus stressed that all countries should be able to identify and share information on pathogens presenting some risk, as well as a quick access to tests, treatments and vaccines. He also described “completely false” the rumours circulating on social media and elsewhere, according to which this agreement would constitute a concession of sovereignty of the Member States to the WHO, giving him the power to impose caradines and vaccination orders.