WHO member countries approve measures to strengthen health regulations to better prepare for pandemics

GENEVA — The World Health Organization said member countries on Saturday approved new measures to improve global preparedness and response to pandemics such as COVID-19 and mpox, and set a new deadline for reaching agreement on a broader treaty.

Countries agreed by consensus to amend the International Health Regulations, which were last amended in 2005, defining, for example, the term “pandemic emergency” and helping developing countries gain better access to finance and medical products, he said. the WHO.

The move came as the UN agency wrapped up its six-day World Health Assembly this year, following plans to adopt a more comprehensive pandemic “treaty” at the meeting. was archived largely due to disagreements between developing and wealthier countries over better sharing of technology and the pathogens that trigger outbreaks.

But countries agreed to conclude negotiations on the pandemic deal by the end of the year, “at the latest”, the WHO said.

“The success of the IHR amendments demonstrates that in our divided and divisive world, countries can still come together to find common cause and common ground,” said Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Lawrence Gostin, an expert in public health law at Georgetown University, hailed a “great victory for health security” and published in X that the measure “will simplify negotiations for the pandemic agreement”.

The WHO said countries have defined a pandemic emergency as a communicable disease that has a “wide geographic spread” or a high risk of disease, and that has exceeded or may exceed the response capacity of national health systems.

It is also defined as an outbreak that has caused or is likely to cause “substantial” economic or social disruption and requires rapid international action, the agency said.

WHO legal officer Steven Solomon said the move to review health regulations will not take effect immediately, but will come into force a year after Tedros formally notifies countries of the decision.

Yuanqiong Hu, senior legal and policy advisor at Doctors Without Borders, said the changes adopted Saturday include “important provisions that address equity in access to health products during global health emergencies.”