Commission welcomes formal adoption of Pandemic Agreement

On May 20th, the members of the World Health Organization (WHO) adopted a new Pandemic Agreement while setting out the process to finalise negotiations of an Annex to the Agreement on Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing. The Pandemic Agreement contains legally binding rules addressing the gaps in the global ability to face and tackle health emergencies as revealed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Together with the amended International Health Regulations, the Pandemic Agreement will strengthen the capacity of countries to prevent and prepare for pandemics with the comprehensive ‘One Health' approach, which recognises the interdependence between human, animal and plant health and their shared environments. The agreement will also enable equitable access to vaccines and other medical countermeasures, fostering technology transfers on voluntary and mutually agreed terms and supporting capacity building in countries in need, in full respect of the health policy competencies and responsibilities of individual EU Member States. Its implementation would also allow for a better coordination and a more effective mobilisation of financing efforts. These improvements echo and reinforce the EU Global Health Strategy.

Olivér Várhelyi, Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare, said: “A Pandemic Agreement is a decisive step towards a more effective and cooperative global approach to preventing and managing future pandemics, in full respect of the health policy responsibilities and competences of individual EU Member States. It underscores the continued strength of international cooperation and solidarity. The EU will remain at the forefront of global health to protect our citizens and safeguard the prosperity and stability of our societies.”