Pandemic pact

This past week, 124 countries came together to adopt the first-ever WHO Pandemic Agreement, giving the world a framework to face the future pandemic more proactively. And while it’s disappointing that the United States chose to stay out of this historic pact, the agreement stands as a step forward in how the world prepares for future global scale infections.  .

The agreement recognises what COVID made painfully clear: when the next pandemic strikes, no one is safe unless everyone is. The deal thus focuses on timely, equitable access to vaccines, treatments and tests. It also pushes for smoother supply chains, faster financing, and better cooperation across borders.

It also takes on one of the thorniest questions: how to balance global coordination with national sovereignty. The agreement makes it clear: the WHO cannot force countries to impose lockdowns, mandate vaccines, or override national laws. That reassurance might just help more countries join in the future, including hopefully the US.

But the real work begins now. Member states will begin hammering out details of a Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing system, a framework to ensure that when scientists in one country identify a dangerous new virus, the world doesn’t have to wait months or years for access to the tools to fight it. The agreement also calls on drugmakers to set aside 20 percent of their pandemic-related products, vaccines, treatments, tests, for global distribution based on need, not wealth.

It remains to be seen how the agreement is implemented and how the follow-up action follows. One can now expect the world to come together. If COVID taught us anything, it’s that waiting until a crisis hits is too late. The WHO Pandemic Agreement offers the world a chance to be ready next time.

While the US remains on the sidelines, the rest of the world has chosen to move forward. This agreement will not just help contain the next outbreak—it will help prevent it. The world cannot afford another COVID-scale failure. This accord gives us a fighting chance to avoid one.