Monitoring information and vaccine delivery: WHO approves global pandemic agreement
Vaccine promotion, information control and population surveillance are the main focuses of the new treaty. Countries such as Slovakia abstained from voting on the grounds that the document threatens state sovereignty.
Chinese medical personnel perform a covid-19 test.
The international agreement on pandemics was adopted Tuesday at the World Health Organization (WHO). The approval of the agreement came after more than three years of intense negotiations.
"Governments from all over the world are making their countries, and our interconnected global community, more equitable, healthier and safer from the threats posed by pathogens and viruses of pandemic potential," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The text was adopted in Geneva at the annual meeting of the organization's member countries. It calls for global coordination in the face of a future pandemic. The resolution on the agreement was approved by 124 votes in favor and none against. Countries that abstained included Iran, Israel, Russia, Italy, Slovakia and Poland.
Slovakia expressed its disagreement with the agreement because it considers that it violates state sovereignty. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said he received a call from the WHO director to change his mind, but reaffirmed his position.
"It violates the principle of the sovereignty of the member states and disproportionately interferes with the area of human rights," Fico maintained in the statement.
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Imposing measures... and vaccines
The WHO agreement not only promises to promote mass vaccination in its member countries but also states that in the event of a pandemic, each pharmaceutical company that agrees to participate in the mechanism will have to provide WHO with "rapid access to a target of 20% of its real-time production of safe vaccines, treatments and diagnostic products," of which a "minimum of 10%" will be donated and the remainder "at an affordable price."
The practical details of the mechanism will still have to be negotiated over the next two years before the agreement can be ratified. Sixty ratifications are needed, AFP explained, for the treaty to enter into force.
Monitoring as a priority
The treaty also insists on what it describes as multisectoral surveillance and the "one health" approach. The pact encourages investment in health systems to ensure that countries have sufficient human resources and strong national regulatory authorities.
"Early detection and control measures at the community level, by strengthening mechanisms and enhancing capacities at the community level, to prevent, detect and notify the relevant authorities of unusual public health events occurring in their territory, in order to facilitate measures for early containment at source," the agreement highlights.
Control of information
The document further details that it was approved "recognizing the importance of building trust and ensuring the timely exchange of information to prevent misinformation, disinformation and stigmatization."
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