SWITZERLAND – Countries trying to negotiate a global agreement on handling future pandemics began an extra week of talks Monday, with the World Health Organization (WHO) chief insisting the end was in sight. The talks at the World Health Organization’s headquarters in Geneva opened three years on from the decision to draft a new accord on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response taken in the heat of COVID-19 crisis. “You know your task and you know what is at stake,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told negotiators for the United Nations (UN) health agency’s 194 member states.

“You should be proud of what you have achieved in the past three years and you should also be confident that the end is in sight. It’s closer than you think. “I believe that you can finalise the pending issues before the end of this year,” he added. Concluding an international agreement in little over three years would be exceptionally fast, given the typical glacial pace of striking treaties.

While countries agree on the broad scope of what they want, the fine details remain in contention. “For the pandemic agreement to be meaningful, you need provisions of strong prevention, for continued preparedness, and for robust, resilient and equitable response,” warned Tedros. “An imbalanced pandemic agreement is not an agreement.” (Jamaicaobserver)

Photo: Director-general of WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (Photo: AFP)