WHO member countries approve steps to bolster health regulations to better brace 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 to agree on a broader treaty.

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

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

But the countries agreed to complete negotiations on the pandemic agreement within a 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, a public health law expert at Georgetown University, praised a “major victory for health security” and posted on 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 “wide geographical spread” or a high risk of suffering from it, 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 could 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 does not come into effect immediately, but will come into effect a year after Tedros formally notifies countries of the decision.

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