GENEVA (AN) — The World Health Organization's governing body opened its annual meeting amid expectations it will amend its laws on public health emergencies and prolong the stalemated pandemic treaty talks.
WHO officials said on Monday that this week's 194-nation World Health Assembly is likely to amend its International Health Regulations and to extend talks on a pandemic treaty for some months more despite the failure to reach a deal after nearly two and a half years of negotiations.
"The pandemic agreement is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to ensure the global health system can respond more quickly – and equitably – when the next pandemic strikes," said WHO's Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
"I urge you to bring it to fruition," he said in his opening address, "and to support amendments to the International Health Regulations, boosting our ability to respond to emergencies."
The assembly created an Intergovernmental Negotiating Body in Dec. 2021 to negotiate a pandemic nearly that it could consider this month. The panel conceded defeat on Friday, with the main issue of addressing the inequities of the COVID-19 pandemic unsolved.
The INB's leadership is slated to report on its lagging progress before the assembly on Tuesday, when health ministers are likely to extend the panel's mandate based on a sense that the negotiations are not deadlocked and could be revived, WHO officials said.
The International Health Regulations, which took effect in 2007, are legally binding rules that apply to 196 countries. Their purpose is to coordinate public health efforts against the international spread of disease in ways that limit the impacts on international travel and trade.
They also require nations to improve their ability to monitor and response to public health threats, and lay the groundwork for international health documents such as certifications for vaccinations or ship sanitation.
One idea for changing the IHR would give the WHO chief the power to declare a “pandemic emergency" for the most serious threats, and a new "early action alert" as a intermediate threat level. The current system has one level, a public health emergency of international concern, or PHEIC.
Last year's assembly approved an agency budget of US$6.83 billion for 2024 to 2025, an 11% increase over the previous year. WHO's budget is fixed every two years, so this year's assembly is scheduled to end this weekend.
The main sticking point and heart of the treaty negotiations has always been over equity, according to Tedros, who expressed hope that negotiators could figure out some way to better prepare developing countries and prevent rich nations from hoarding future pandemic-related products, including diagnostic tests, therapeutic treatments and vaccines.
The draft treaty revolved around a legally binding proposal for WHO to receive and distribute 20% of the world's pandemic-related products: 10% donated to WHO free of charge, and the other 10% turned over at not-for-profit prices during PHEICs or pandemics. Nations also would have been required to provide WHO with viral specimens and genome sequences of pathogens with pandemic potential.
This story has been updated with additional details.
