Pandemic agreement talks could be prolonged by a year

Negotiations to reach a global agreement on handling future pandemics seem on course to be extended for another year, NGOs studying the process said Friday.

Countries meeting at the annual World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva have been trying to work out the way forward after two years of talks concluded last week without finalizing a deal, despite progress over the last two months.

In December 2021, spooked by the devastation caused by COVID-19—which killed millions of people, shredded economies and crippled health systems—the WHA commissioned the drafting of an accord on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.

The deadline was this week’s WHA, a gathering of the World Health Organization’s 194 member states and the UN agency’s supreme decision-making body. The assembly opened on Monday and closes on Saturday.

Taking stock of the situation on Tuesday, the assembly tasked a drafting group to consider the next steps.

In debates, African nations spoke as one to say they wanted to seize the growing momentum and get the agreement finished in the coming months, while Washington urged countries to take their time to work out the best possible deal, suggesting the process could take up to two years.

On Friday it seemed the drafting group had come up with a compromise position, NGOs said.

“It’s our understanding, based on what we’ve seen today, that they will continue, they will try and get it done as soon as possible,” James Love, the director of Knowledge Ecology International, told the UN correspondents’ association.

“If they do get it done sooner rather than later, they will convene a special one-topic meeting of the WHA to consider adopting the agreement,” he said.

“But they give themselves, depending on how things go, all the way until next year” at the next regular WHA.

K.M. Gopakumar, senior researcher with the Third World Network, added, “There is a decision which is basically postponing the negotiations for a year because the deadline is to conclude by 2025.”

The WHO said that later Friday, the assembly would receive “a brief update on progress in the drafting group”, with discussions in the group “likely to go on late today”.

© 2024 AFP