Global pandemic treaty

Global pandemic treaty

Subject: International Relations

Section: International Organisation

Context :A draft international pandemic treaty governing prevention, preparedness and response of future pandemics will be ready for negotiation in 18 months, said Soumya Swaminathan, chief scientist of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Details:

• The genesis of the treaty was at the second special session of the World Health Assembly (WHA) held in December 2021, which formally launched the process for the development of the historical global accord.
• The document will help address global public health challenges made conspicuous by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic
• These include equitable distribution of vaccines and health services among and within countries, knowledge and data sharing as well as realising capability-based responsibilities of various economies.
• WHA established an International Negotiating Body (INB) to formulate ‘WHO convention, agreement or other international instrument’ for the world to unitedly respond to and recover from infectious disease crises in the future.