www.reuters.com Open in urlscan Pro
2600:9000:235a:4600:15:5a3e:9d40:93a1  Public Scan

Form analysis
0 forms found in the DOM

Text Content

Skip to main content

Exclusive news, data and analytics for financial market professionalsLearn more
aboutRefinitiv

 * World
   Browse World
    * Africa
    * Americas
    * Asia Pacific
    * China
    * Europe
    * India
    * Israel and Hamas at War
   
    * Japan
    * Middle East
    * Ukraine and Russia at War
    * United Kingdom
    * United States
    * Reuters NEXT

 * US Election
 * Business
   Browse Business
    * Aerospace & Defense
    * Autos & Transportation
    * Davos
    * Energy
    * Environment
    * Finance
    * Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals
   
    * Media & Telecom
    * Retail & Consumer
    * Future of Health
    * Future of Money
    * Take Five
    * World at Work

 * Markets
   Browse Markets
    * Asian Markets
    * Carbon Markets
    * Commodities
    * Currencies
    * Deals
    * Emerging Markets
    * ETFs
    * European Markets
   
    * Funds
    * Global Market Data
    * Rates & Bonds
    * Stocks
    * U.S. Markets
    * Wealth
    * Macro Matters

 * Sustainability
   Browse Sustainability
    * Boards, Policy & Regulation
    * Climate & Energy
    * Land Use & Biodiversity
    * Society & Equity
   
    * Sustainable Finance & Reporting
    * The Switch
    * Reuters Impact
    * COP29

 * Legal
   Browse Legal
    * Government
    * Legal Industry
    * Litigation
    * Transactional
    * US Supreme Court

 * Breakingviews
   Browse Breakingviews
    * Breakingviews Predictions

 * Technology
   Browse Technology
    * Artificial Intelligence
    * Cybersecurity
    * Space
    * Disrupted

 * More
   Investigations
   Sports
    * Athletics
    * Baseball
    * Basketball
    * Cricket
    * Cycling
    * Formula 1
    * Golf
    * NFL
    * NHL
    * Soccer
    * Tennis
   
   Science
   Lifestyle
   Graphics
   Pictures
   Wider Image
   Podcasts
   Fact Check
   Video
   Sponsored Content
    * Reuters Plus
    * Press Releases
   
   Live

My News

Sign InSubscribe



HOW THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION COULD FIGHT FUTURE PANDEMICS

By Emma Farge
May 23, 20238:43 AM GMT+2Updated 2 years ago
Text
 * Small Text
 * Medium Text
 * Large Text

Share
 * X
 * Facebook
 * Linkedin
 * Email
 * Link

Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Dr. Tedros Adhanom
Ghebreyesus attends the World Health Assembly at the United Nations in Geneva,
Switzerland, May 21, 2023. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse Purchase Licensing Rights,
opens new tab
GENEVA, May 23 (Reuters) - Negotiations on new rules for dealing with pandemics
are underway at the World Health Organization (WHO), with a target date of May
2024 for a legally binding agreement to be adopted by the U.N. health agency's
194 member countries.
A new pact is a priority for WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus who called it
a "generational commitment that we will not go back to the old cycle of panic
and neglect" at the U.N. agency's annual assembly. It seeks to shore up the
world's defences against new pathogens following the COVID-19 pandemic that has
killed nearly 7 million people.
Advertisement · Scroll to continue



WHAT IS THE SO-CALLED PANDEMIC TREATY?

The WHO already has binding rules known as the International Health Regulations,
which in 2005 set out countries' obligations where public health events have the
potential to cross borders. These include advising the WHO immediately of a
health emergency and measures on trade and travel.
Adopted after the 2002-2003 SARS outbreak, these regulations are still
considered appropriate for regional epidemics, such as Ebola but inadequate for
a global pandemic. These regulations are also being reviewed in the wake of
COVID-19.
Advertisement · Scroll to continue

For the new more wide-reaching pandemic accord, member states have agreed that
it should be legally binding for those who sign up, overcoming early
reservations from the United States.
It would be only the second such health accord after the 2003 Framework
Convention on Tobacco Control, a treaty which aims to reduce smoking via
taxation and rules on labelling and advertising.
However, the proposed treaty has come under fire on social media, mostly from
right-wing critics warning it could lead to countries ceding authority to the
WHO. The body strongly refutes this, stressing that governments are leading the
negotiations and are free to reject the accord.



HOW DO COUNTRIES VIEW THE PACT?

The European Union, which proposed the accord, is seen as its biggest backer.
Developing countries, especially in Africa, are keen to use the negotiations to
secure better access to vaccines, following allegations of "vaccine apartheid"
from the WHO's Director-General Tedros.
After five rounds of formal negotiations, the latest 208-page draft of the
treaty still includes thousands of brackets, which mark areas of disagreement or
undecided language, including over the definition of the word "pandemic". With
so many member countries involved, securing agreement may be tricky.



HOW WOULD IT WORK?

It is not yet clear how the 2005 regulations and the new pandemic accord might
fit together.
One suggestion is that they should be complementary, so that existing rules
apply to local outbreaks with the new rules kicking in if the WHO declares a
pandemic - something it does not currently have a mandate to do.
It is also not yet clear what happens if the measures are not followed. A
co-chair of the talks said it would be preferable to have a peer-review process,
rather than sanction non-compliant states.



WHAT OTHER REFORMS ARE IN THE WORKS?

Separate talks on reforming the 2005 rules are taking place, with countries
proposing some 300 amendments.
Washington's initial proposals aimed to boost transparency and grant the WHO
quicker access to outbreak sites.
China did allow WHO-led expert teams to visit the COVID-19 epicentre in Wuhan,
but the WHO says Beijing is still withholding clinical data from early cases
that may hold clues about the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Negotiators privately grumble about overlap between the two sets of talks and a
joint meeting to clarify their agendas is planned.

Keep up with the latest medical breakthroughs and healthcare trends with the
Reuters Health Rounds newsletter. Sign up here.

Reporting by Emma Farge in Geneva, additional reporting by Jennifer Rigby in
London Editing by Tomasz Janowski

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

 * Suggested Topics:
 * Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals
 * Government Health Policy
 * Public Health

Share
 * X
 * Facebook
 * Linkedin
 * Email
 * Link

Purchase Licensing Rights
Emma Farge

Thomson Reuters

Emma Farge reports on the U.N. beat and Swiss news from Geneva since 2019. She
has produced a string of exclusives on diplomacy, the environment and global
trade and covered Switzerland’s first war crimes trial. Her Reuters career
started in 2009 covering oil swaps from London and she has since written about
the West African Ebola outbreak, embedded with U.N. troops in north Mali and was
the first reporter to enter deposed Gambian dictator Yahya Jammeh’s estate. She
co-authored a winning story for the Elizabeth Neuffer Memorial Prize on Russia’s
diplomatic isolation in 2022 and was also part of a team of journalists
nominated in 2012 as Pulitzer finalists in the international reporting category
for coverage of the Libyan revolution. She holds a BA from Oxford University
(First) and an MSc from the LSE in International Relations. She is currently on
the board of the press association for UN correspondents in Geneva (ACANU).

 * Email
 * Linkedin


READ NEXT

 * Healthcare & PharmaceuticalscategoryArgentina HIV patients, medics fear
   impact of Milei's spending cuts
 * Future of HealthcategoryBritish lawmakers give initial support to assisted
   dying bill
 * New case of mpox variant clade Ib detected in England
 * LegalcategoryFlavored vape products dispute goes before US Supreme Court
 * SportscategoryWADA investigating the effects of repeated carbon monoxide
   exposure
 * Healthcare & PharmaceuticalscategoryMpox outbreak could start plateauing next
   year, Africa CDC says




BUSINESS


 * SOUTH KOREA EXPORT GROWTH SLOWS TO 14-MONTH LOW AS US DEMAND WEAKENS
   
   category · December 1, 2024 · 3:06 AM GMT+1
   
   South Korea's export growth slowed for a fourth-straight month in November,
   to the weakest level in 14 months, as shipments to the United States and
   China fell amid tariff uncertainty, trade data showed on Sunday.

 * BusinesscategoryGautam Adani breaks silence on US bribery indictment1:30 AM
   GMT+1
 * WorldcategoryAustralia PM Albanese says Musk pushing agenda for X in social
   media ban criticism12:51 AM GMT+1
 * LegalcategoryJPMorgan agrees to drop lawsuit against Tesla over stock
   warrantsNovember 30, 2024
 * Macro MatterscategoryUS Black Friday spending in stores and online rose 3.4%
   year-over-year, data showNovember 30, 2024




SITE INDEX


LATEST

 * Home
 * Authors
 * Topic Sitemap
 * Archive
 * Article Sitemap


BROWSE

 * World
 * Business
 * Markets
 * Sustainability
 * Legal
 * Breakingviews
 * Technology
 * Investigations
 * Sports
 * Science
 * Lifestyle


MEDIA

 * 
   Videos
 * 
   Pictures
 * 
   Graphics
 * 
   Podcasts


ABOUT REUTERS

 * About Reuters, opens new tab
 * Careers, opens new tab
 * Reuters News Agency, opens new tab
 * Brand Attribution Guidelines, opens new tab
 * Reuters and AI, opens new tab
 * Reuters Leadership, opens new tab
 * Reuters Fact Check
 * Reuters Diversity Report, opens new tab


STAY INFORMED

 * Download the App (iOS), opens new tab
 * Download the App (Android), opens new tab
 * Newsletters


INFORMATION YOU CAN TRUST

Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world’s largest
multimedia news provider, reaching billions of people worldwide every day.
Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to
professionals via desktop terminals, the world's media organizations, industry
events and directly to consumers.


FOLLOW US

 * X
 * Facebook
 * Instagram
 * Youtube
 * Linkedin


THOMSON REUTERS PRODUCTS

 * WESTLAW, OPENS NEW TAB
   
   BUILD THE STRONGEST ARGUMENT RELYING ON AUTHORITATIVE CONTENT,
   ATTORNEY-EDITOR EXPERTISE, AND INDUSTRY DEFINING TECHNOLOGY.

 * ONESOURCE, OPENS NEW TAB
   
   THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE SOLUTION TO MANAGE ALL YOUR COMPLEX AND EVER-EXPANDING
   TAX AND COMPLIANCE NEEDS.

 * CHECKPOINT, OPENS NEW TAB
   
   THE INDUSTRY LEADER FOR ONLINE INFORMATION FOR TAX, ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE
   PROFESSIONALS.


LSEG PRODUCTS

 * WORKSPACE, OPENS NEW TAB
   
   ACCESS UNMATCHED FINANCIAL DATA, NEWS AND CONTENT IN A HIGHLY-CUSTOMISED
   WORKFLOW EXPERIENCE ON DESKTOP, WEB AND MOBILE.

 * DATA CATALOGUE, OPENS NEW TAB
   
   BROWSE AN UNRIVALLED PORTFOLIO OF REAL-TIME AND HISTORICAL MARKET DATA AND
   INSIGHTS FROM WORLDWIDE SOURCES AND EXPERTS.

 * WORLD-CHECK, OPENS NEW TAB
   
   SCREEN FOR HEIGHTENED RISK INDIVIDUAL AND ENTITIES GLOBALLY TO HELP UNCOVER
   HIDDEN RISKS IN BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS AND HUMAN NETWORKS.

 * Advertise With Us, opens new tab
 * Advertising Guidelines
 * Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

 * Cookies, opens new tab
 * Terms of Use
 * Privacy, opens new tab
 * Digital Accessibility, opens new tab
 * Corrections
 * Site Feedback, opens new tab

All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. See here for a complete list of
exchanges and delays.

© 2024 Reuters. All rights reserved






WE VALUE YOUR PRIVACY

We and our 152 partners will store and access information on your device with
your consent. Browsing data is collected through the use of cookies to process
personal data. You can give or withdraw your consent by clicking on the `Show
Purposes` button. You can manage your choices and exercise your right to object
on the basis of legitimate interest at any time by clicking on the cog icon at
the bottom left corner of every page.Cookie PolicyPrivacy Statement


HOW AND WHY WE PROCESS PERSONAL DATA

Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for
identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised
advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research
and services development. List of Partners (vendors)

Allow All Reject All Show Purposes


Feedback