The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) stated that history will not forgive countries if they fail to reach an agreement on a pandemic treaty, with time running out due to the slow progress of negotiations.
اضافة اعلان
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that countries are on the brink of finalizing a historic agreement on pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response, after a week of discussions.
However, with only five days remaining for the scheduled official negotiations between April 7-11, countries agreed to hold informal meetings in March in an attempt to break the deadlock.
As the penultimate round of talks concluded at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Tedros remarked, "You have made progress, perhaps not as much as you hoped, but there is still progress. We are at a critical point, and you are moving towards finalizing the pandemic treaty" in time for the World Health Assembly to make a decision in May.
He added, "You are very close. Closer than you think. You are about to write a historic chapter," urging countries not to let the agreement fail over a word, comma, or percentage, or the pursuit of perfection at the cost of progress.
The 13th round of negotiations began while the United States—along with its withdrawal from the WHO—officially informed the United Nations health body that it would not participate in the treaty talks.
However, European diplomatic sources indicated that optimism remains high regarding reaching an agreement despite Washington's withdrawal.
Tedros emphasized on Friday that "the world needs a signal that multilateralism still works. Reaching an agreement on pandemics in the current geopolitical environment is a sign of hope."
Work on the treaty began in December 2021 when countries, fearing a repeat of COVID-19—which killed millions, crippled healthcare systems, and devastated economies—decided to draft an agreement on pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response.
Despite agreement on much of the draft text, disagreements persist over data sharing on potential pandemic pathogens and the equitable sharing of benefits derived from such data, including vaccines, tests, and treatments.
