WHO nations reach landmark deal to prevent future pandemics, learn from Covid-19 mistakes

Negotiators faced issues with agreeing on technology transfer, as poorer countries accused rich nations of hoarding vaccines during Covid-19 pandemic

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A person receives a vaccination. WHO member states agreed on a landmark pandemic agreement to prevent future crises, addressing equity and tech transfer. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 12:34pm, 16 Apr 2025Updated: 2:23pm, 16 Apr 2025

Years of negotiations culminated in the wee small hours of Wednesday with countries agreeing the text of a landmark accord on how to tackle future pandemics, aimed at avoiding a repeat of the mistakes made during the Covid-19 crisis.

After more than three years of talks and a final marathon session, weary delegates at the World Health Organization’s (WHO) headquarters could finally pop the champagne corks at around 2.00am on Wednesday.

“The nations of the world made history in Geneva today,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.

“In reaching consensus on the Pandemic Agreement, not only did they put in place a generational accord to make the world safer, they have also demonstrated that multilateralism is alive and well, and that in our divided world, nations can still work together to find common ground, and a shared response to shared threats.”

Five years after Covid-19 killed millions of people and devastated economies, a growing sense of urgency hung over the talks at a time when new health threats ranging from H5N1 bird flu to measles, mpox and Ebola were lurking.

The final stretch of negotiations also took place, with cuts to US foreign aid spending and threatened tariffs on pharmaceuticals casting a new shadow over the talks.