WHO Member Countries Agree On Legal Treaty To Overcome Pandemic

Illustration of WHO member countries agrees on a pandemic deal (Pexels/Anna Shvets)

JAKARTA - A country that is a member of the World Health Organization (WHO) has agreed on a text agreement. The legally binding agreement was designed to better tackle future pandemics.

WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the agreement was important for a healthier and safer journey to a healthier world.

"(Memberships) have also shown that multilateralism is still alive and healthy, and that in our divided world, countries can still work together to find a common basis. Likewise, a joint response to common threats," Tedros said, quoted by the BBC, on Thursday, April 17, 2025.

This legal agreement reached a mutual agreement on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. The agreement was reached after discussions were carried out for three years by between member countries.

This agreement is carried out with the intention of avoiding disorganization and resource competition when facing a pandemic. The organization and competition were previously seen during the COVID-19 outbreak that hit the world.

The key elements of the agreement include a variety of fast data on new diseases. Scientists and pharmaceutical companies can certainly work faster to develop treatments and vaccines, in the event of a pandemic in the future.

Through this agreement, for the first time WHO itself will also have an overview of the global supply chain, which deals with masks, medical uniforms, and personal protective equipment (PPE).

At the agreed requirements, countries must ensure that medicines related to the pandemic are available worldwide if disease outbreaks hit in the future. Participants must allocate 10 percent of vaccine production, therapy, and diagnostics to WHO.

Then the other 10 percent will be supplied at an affordable price. Member countries also approved the transfer of health technology to poor countries as long as it was mutually agreed upon.