The UN General Assembly approved a political declaration on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, but not by consensus. The draft text was passed on Monday by 153 votes in favour to three against (Argentina, Israeli occupation entity and United States) with two abstentions (New Zealand and Paraguay).
It was due to be approved by consensus at a high-level meeting on 25 September but objections from the United States and a few other states pushed the issue back to the UNGA. Chile’s representative summed up one prevailing view, saying that “no country, no matter how big it might be or how prepared it might be, can alone address a threat that knows no borders.” The declaration is political and non-binding.
It calls for stronger national, regional and international cooperation, guided by science, equity and respect for human rights, and it welcomes last year’s landmark adoption of the World Health Organization (WHO) Pandemic Agreement. “WHO welcomes this strong commitment by UN Member States to continue working together on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“The world has come a long way since COVID-19. We urge countries to now fulfil the commitments they have made – especially to finalize negotiations on the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing system (PABS) annex, so the WHO Pandemic Agreement can be opened for signature, begin the process of ratification and enter into force as international law.”
The agreement cannot be opened for signature until Member States complete the annex on pathogen access and benefit-sharing – the system by which countries would share samples and genetic data. Those that do so would receive a share of any resulting vaccines, treatments and diagnostics. Talks have stalled amid a standoff between developing countries and some highincome European nations together with the US.
The World Health Assembly – comprising the WHO’s 194 members – is due to return to the annex next May. The US representative had previously cited “divisive ideologies that lack definitional consensus” as well as the declaration’s references to the continuing annex negotiations.
In addition to adopting the pandemic declaration, the 193-member world body had a number of items on its agenda on Monday, including the consideration of draft resolutions on the UN Declaration on Sea Level Rise and a political declaration of the high-level meeting to mark the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the anti-racism Durban Declaration and Programme of Action.
Meanwhile, WHO on Monday launched a five-year strategy for its Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence, with the goal of detecting emerging health threats within 24 hours. Set up in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, the hub wants every country to be able to identify and understand new threats quickly, so outbreaks can be contained before they become epidemics or spread internationally.
— KUNA