WHO Welcomes World Leaders' Pandemic Preparedness Commitment
The World Health Organization (WHO) welcomed a historic commitment from world leaders to strengthen global collaboration, governance, and investment in preventing and responding to future pandemics.
World leaders have made a historic commitment at the United Nations General Assembly to enhance international cooperation, coordination, governance, and investment to prevent future pandemics.
The World Health Organization (WHO) welcomed the leaders' agreement, which aims to prevent a recurrence of the devastating health and socioeconomic impacts seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. The commitment includes strengthened political support for the WHO and its operations.
The declaration, approved under the leadership of UN General Assembly President Dennis Francis, underscores the WHO's pivotal role as the "directing and coordinating authority on international health." It also emphasizes the need for sustainable financing to provide the WHO with adequate and predictable resources to fulfill its core functions.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated that the commitment from world leaders provides the necessary political direction and support to protect public health. He highlighted the importance of investing in local capacities, ensuring equity, and supporting a global architecture for health emergency response.
The political declaration complements ongoing initiatives such as the Pandemic Fund and the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence. It also calls for the conclusion of negotiations on a pandemic instrument and amendments to the International Health Regulations by May 2024, aiming to ensure equitable access to medical countermeasures, including vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics.