UN Backs New Pandemic Preparedness Pact as Countries Push for Fairer Global Response

The World Health Organization welcomed the adoption, saying the declaration reflects a shared understanding among countries that pandemic preparedness cannot be treated only as a health-sector responsibility.

The United Nations General Assembly has adopted a new Political Declaration on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, renewing international commitments to strengthen the systems needed to detect health threats earlier, respond faster and reduce the human and economic damage caused by future pandemics.

The World Health Organization welcomed the adoption, saying the declaration reflects a shared understanding among countries that pandemic preparedness cannot be treated only as a health-sector responsibility. The COVID-19 crisis exposed weaknesses in surveillance, medical supply chains, access to vaccines and treatments, financing and international coordination, making preparedness a development, economic and security priority as well as a public health concern.

WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said countries have made substantial progress since COVID-19 and called on governments to turn their commitments into practical action. A major unfinished task is completing negotiations on the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing system, known as PABS, which forms an important part of the WHO Pandemic Agreement.

PABS negotiations become the next major test for global cooperation

UN Member States first considered the declaration during the second UN General Assembly High-level Meeting on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response on September 25, 2026, before referring it to the full General Assembly for adoption.

Attention is now turning to the PABS Annex, designed to create arrangements for timely access to pathogens with pandemic potential and fair sharing of benefits linked to their use. Countries have highlighted completion of these negotiations as essential to making the broader WHO Pandemic Agreement operational.

The result of the PABS negotiations is expected to be considered by the World Health Assembly in May 2027, or sooner if a special session is convened. Adoption of the annex would allow the Pandemic Agreement to move toward signature, ratification and eventual entry into force as international law, giving countries a common framework for a more coordinated response when the next major health threat emerges.

Countries urged to invest before the next health emergency arrives

The declaration calls for sustained investment in national, regional and global preparedness instead of relying on emergency spending once a crisis has already begun. Governments are encouraged to strengthen monitoring and surveillance systems, expand their ability to detect emerging threats and build health capacities that can continue functioning during large outbreaks.

Implementation of the amended International Health Regulations (2005) is another major priority. These rules support international cooperation around disease surveillance, reporting and public health responses, giving countries a shared mechanism for managing health events that may cross borders.

The declaration also recognises that preparedness depends on communities receiving information they can understand and trust. Empowering people, strengthening local participation and ensuring that vulnerable populations are not overlooked are expected to play an important role in making national preparedness plans more effective.

Fair access, regional manufacturing and sustainable financing move to centre stage

Equity is a central theme running through the new commitments. Member States called for timely access to pathogens alongside fair benefit-sharing, reflecting concerns raised during COVID-19 about unequal access to vaccines, medicines, diagnostics and other essential tools.

Countries also backed stronger local and regional manufacturing capacity so more regions can produce vaccines, treatments and health technologies instead of depending heavily on a limited number of global suppliers. Greater investment in research and development is expected to support faster innovation and improve the ability of countries to respond when unfamiliar pathogens emerge.

Sustainable financing remains another essential part of the agenda because surveillance networks, laboratories, trained health workers, manufacturing systems and emergency response mechanisms require investment before a pandemic begins. The declaration presents these measures as interconnected pieces of a broader global health security system built around cooperation, solidarity and more equitable access to lifesaving resources.

For WHO, the adoption marks an important political commitment, though the next stage will depend on countries translating the declaration into financing, stronger national systems and completed international agreements. Finalising the PABS Annex could become one of the most important steps toward turning lessons from COVID-19 into a functioning global framework for future pandemic threats.