The World Health Assembly (WHA) has announced that World Health Organization (WHO) Member States have agreed on ways forward to conclude a pandemic agreement and strengthen the International Health Regulations (IHR, 2005).
The government meetings for the 77th WHA, which began on 27 May, ended on 1 June 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland.
Aiming to boost the world’s ability to better prevent and respond to the threat of future pandemics, WHO Member States agreed to continue working during the WHA by focusing on finalising the package of amendments to the IHR, 2005 and agreeing on the timing format and process to conclude the pandemic agreement.
Focusing on the theme of ‘All for Health, Health for All’, the assembly involved a series of strategic roundtable sessions for WHA delegates, partner agencies, representatives of civil society and WHO experts to discuss current and future priorities for global public health issues.
Last month, governments agreed to continue both hybrid and in-person meetings ahead of the WHA meeting to accelerate work on critical issues such as proposed new global systems for pathogen access and benefit sharing, including life-saving vaccines, treatments and diagnostics, as well as pandemic prevention and One Health, an integrated, unifying approach that aims to balance and optimise the health of people, animals and ecosystems.
During the assembly, after considering agenda item 13.4 on the draft pandemic agreement, the WHA acknowledged the extensive work undertaken by the Member-State-led Intergovernmental Negotiating Body and the Bureau since the process was first launched in December 2021 to prevent a repeat of the global health, economic and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The WHA also considered agenda item 13.3, which outlined the work undertaken to negotiate the amendments to the IHR, 2005, to build on lessons learned from the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Member States restated the need to build a pandemic agreement built on the principles of equity, sovereignty, prevention, preparedness and response, as well as ensuring future generations are safeguarded from the threat of inevitable future pandemics.
Furthermore, they stressed that an agreement on updated and stronger IHRs was essential for ensuring global health security.