What If Another Pandemic Breaks Out? An Agreement That Could Change Everything

Member states of the World Health Organization have voted at the World Health Assembly on a potentially groundbreaking global agreement aimed at improving pandemic preparedness.

124 countries voted in favor after Slovakia called for a vote, while the country’s Prime Minister Robert Fico, who is skeptical about the COVID-19 vaccine, requested that his country challenge the adoption of the agreement.

No country voted against it, and 11 countries, including Poland, Israel, Italy, Russia, Slovakia, and Iran, abstained.

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The draft agreement, which addresses structural inequalities in the development of medicines, vaccines, and health tools, will be formally adopted on Tuesday at the plenary session of the World Health Assembly in Geneva.

However, it will not formally enter into force until negotiations on the annex regarding pathogen sharing are completed, which could take up to two years. After that, the agreement will need to be ratified by the member states.