The International Treaty on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response or Pandemic Treaty is a proposed

international agreement A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal perso ...

to strengthen pandemic

prevention Prevention may refer to: Health and medicine * Preventive healthcare, measures to prevent diseases or injuries rather than curing them or treating their symptoms General safety * Crime prevention, the attempt to reduce deter crime and crimi ...

, preparedness and response. The 194

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

(WHO) member states agreed in December 2021 to begin negotiations on a global pandemic treaty, aiming for a draft agreement to be finalized by May 2024 for consideration by the 77th World Health Assembly.

Background

Experts argue that the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

has "exposed severe limitations in both the

International Health Regulations The International Health Regulations (IHR), first adopted by the World Health Assembly in 1969 and last revised in 2005, are a legally binding rules that only apply to the WHO that is an instrument that aims for international collaboration "to pre ...

(IHR) and the WHO’s institutional capacities." In light of the pandemic's global devastation, many states called for a stronger international framework to deal with future pandemics. Responding to these calls, a special session of the

World Health Assembly The World Health Assembly (WHA) is the forum through which the World Health Organization (WHO) is governed by its 194 member states. It is the world's highest health policy setting body and is composed of health ministers from member states. T ...

, the WHO's governing body, convened in November 2021. At this meeting, the WHO member states agreed "to establish (...) an intergovernmental negotiating body open to all Member States and Associate Members (the “INB”) to draft and negotiate a WHO convention, agreement or other international instrument on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response". The first meeting of the negotiating body is to be scheduled "no later than 1 March 2022" and will aim to "define and agree on its working methods and timelines". The second session will be held "no later than 1 August 2022" and is meant to consider a working draft of the future international agreement. The negotiating body "shall submit its outcome for consideration by the Seventy-seventh World Health Assembly" in 2024.

Treaty format

There is currently no agreement regarding the legal format of the future pandemic treaty. More than 70 states, including the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

and United Kingdom, are advocating for a strong legally binding international treaty. In contrast, other countries, including the United States, India and Brazil, are reluctant to commit to a legally binding agreement. The WHO could adopt a pandemic treaty under Article 21 of its constitution, similar to the legal status of the International Health Regulations. Alternatively, the WHO could adopt a pandemic convention or agreement under Article 19, used only once before for the

Framework Convention on Tobacco Control The World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) is a treaty adopted by the 56th World Health Assembly held in Geneva, Switzerland on 21 May 2003. It became the first World Health Organization treaty adopted under ...

Proceedings

The ''intergovernmental negotiating body'' (INB) first met on 24 February 2022.{{cite press release , title=Council gives green light to start negotiations on international pandemic treaty , url=https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2022/03/03/council-gives-green-light-to-start-negotiations-on-international-pandemic-treaty/ , publisher=

Council of the European Union The Council of the European Union, often referred to in the treaties and other official documents simply as the Council, and informally known as the Council of Ministers, is the third of the seven Institutions of the European Union (EU) as ...

, date=3 March 2022 , access-date=4 March 2022

References

External links

PandemicTreaty.net
website of the Pandemic Treaty Project by Georgetown University's Center for Global Health Science and Security and

Carnegie Corporation of New York The Carnegie Corporation of New York is a philanthropic fund established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to support education programs across the United States, and later the world. Carnegie Corporation has endowed or otherwise helped to establis ...

World Health Assembly, 2nd Special Session Decision (1 December 2021): "The World Together: Establishment of an intergovernmental negotiating body to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness and response"

World Health Organization treaties Proposed treaties

Background

Treaty format

Proceedings

See also

References

External links