After weeks of headlines about cuts to global health, scientists being locked out of their labs and life-saving clinical trials and vaccine research being put on hold due to US and other global funding cuts, confidence in collaborative global health security was waning.
Today’s adoption of the Pandemic Agreement at the World Health Assembly in Geneva offers resounding hope that common sense and shared goodwill towards humanity will, eventually, prevail.
It might have taken over three years of challenging discussions and amendments, but today’s commitment by 124 countries is a historic decision.
This is the first such health-related agreement to be successfully negotiated by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the duration of negotiations reflects complexities in gaining agreement across member states.
Keeping pandemic preparedness on the agenda
Pandemic preparedness is still one of the most pressing challenges in global health. The fact that we have faced a pandemic recently does not make it any less likely that we are about to face another.
While we’ve come a long way since the start of the Covid pandemic in some areas like vaccines and data sharing, in others – like the political will to work together and invest in biosecurity the same way we invest in defence – progress has stalled.
Ultimately the success of this Pandemic Agreement will depend on national investment, and across all countries this will require renewed political will beyond the Health Ministries.
Covid caused immense health, economic and societal impacts and many communities and economies are still dealing with these five years on.
If Covid taught us anything, it’s that this interconnected world requires people and world leaders to work together in the face of public health emergencies and that good science can provide the best route to mitigate and respond.
The Agreement now stands alongside the updated International Health Regulations, adopted in 2024.
Together, these tools provide foundational principles and outline mechanisms for countries to work together to better predict, prevent and respond to public health threats.
Shining a spotlight on R&D
Article 9 of the Agreement – on the need for strengthened and sustained research and development – was one of the first to be unanimously agreed by member states.
Whether developing vaccines, finding life-saving treatments or revealing how the disease was spreading, Covid showed us that science has a huge role to play in responding to public health emergencies. Without it, the outcomes of the pandemic would have been far, far worse. Today’s Agreement reenforces the importance of science in ensuring the world is prepared for future pandemic threats.
The Agreement also emphasises the need to invest in critical infrastructure and skills continually. This ‘always on’ approach means systems, labs, network and clinical trials could be quickly stood up in a pandemic emergency.
An Agreement underpinned by values and principles
Respect for human rights, equity (as a goal, principle and outcome of pandemic prevention), solidarity and science-based evidence are all key principles rightly enshrined upfront in the Agreement.
Not only do these align with the values of the global health community, but they are also necessary for effective practice in pandemic preparedness to improve outcomes for all populations.
Ensuring these aspects are enshrined in a global agreement – particularly at a time when global solidarity appears to be waning – is a huge win.
Recognising the importance of clinical trials and outputs of research
Beyond the generation of the best available science and evidence, the Agreement calls for equitable access and data sharing.
And on clinical trials it is specific with regards to the need to promote representative trial populations, promote the sharing of comparator products for trials and promote access to products of trials for trial populations and wider populations at risk.
Ultimately the Pandemic Agreement will be judged by its implementation, but it heralds a welcome vital global message on the importance of pandemic preparedness and response.
What will be needed now is the political will and sustainable financing so that all countries can make the Agreement a reality.
Professor Alice Norton has over 20 years’ experience in global health research, funding and practice. As Principal Investigator at the University of Oxford’s Pandemic Sciences Institute, her group undertakes applied research on policy and practice for pandemic preparedness and response. Professor Norton is an advisor to numerous global health projects and organisations.