The World Health Assembly (WHA) recognized progress to develop a pandemic agreement and strengthen the International Health Regulations (IHR, 2005) as governments met in Geneva to advance those aims. WHO's website has the news.
WHO Member States will continue to work during the World Health Assembly ending on June 1, with the aim to “finalize the package of amendments to the IHR” and “agree the timing, format, and process to conclude the pandemic agreement.”
During a session on May 28, delegates at the WHA “acknowledged the extensive work undertaken by the Member State-led Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB), and the Bureau steering the work, since governments launched the process in December 2021 to develop the world’s first pandemic accord to prevent a repeat of the global health, economic and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.” Member States continued to press for a pandemic agreement that builds on the “principles of equity, sovereignty, and prevention, preparedness and response, and to ensure future generations are safeguarded from the threat of inevitable future pandemics.”
Member States also stressed that “agreement on updated and stronger International Health Regulations were essential for ensuring global health security.”
