Even as the World Health Assembly, the highest decision making body of World Health Organisation member countries adopted a “Pandemic Agreement” to make the world more equitable and safer from future pandemics, Third World Network (TWN), a Malaysia-based international research and advocacy organisation, terms the Agreement as an ‘initial’ milestone with lots of work ahead in order to achieve its objectives. Stating that the “real test lies ahead”, TWN said the next phases of negotiations, beginning with the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing System (PABS), will determine whether this agreement becomes a meaningful tool for equity or if it remains merely symbolic.

Speaking at the plenary session of the 78th WHA in Geneva on May 21, India’s Health Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava also said that while India strongly supports a legal, binding framework that enhances global cooperation while respecting national sovereignty and capacities, “the Pandemic agreement must ensure equitable access to medical countermeasures, timely and transparent data and pathogen sharing; and promote technology sharing and capacity building, particularly for the Global South”.

TWN says that the ability of developing countries to access affordable vaccines, treatments, and diagnostics swiftly and fairly during health emergencies and to realise the ambition of a fairer and more effective global health architecture that can equitably prevent, prepare for and respond to pandemics is what is at stake. “The upcoming PABS discussions offer WHO Members a rare opportunity to build a transparent and accountable system, anchored in legally binding rules for sharing biological materials and sequence data of pathogens with pandemic potential, coupled with enforceable benefit-sharing obligations”, the civil society organisation said.

According to TWN, PABS should guarantee rapid access not just during pandemics, but also in emerging outbreaks, before they escalate into global crises. “If these next steps fail, the world may once again face a pandemic armed only with a little more than empty promises, risking a repeat of the devastating failures seen during COVID-19”, it said.

Incidentally, India’s Health Secretary Srivastava concluded her WHA address by congratulating the WHO and member states on the historic progress made toward advancing the Pandemic Treaty, while emphasizing the importance of confronting future health challenges with a commitment to ensuring that no one is left behind.

The 78th World Health Assembly adopted the resolution establishing the Pandemic Agreement after three years of intense negotiations, deep divides, and difficult compromises.