UNITED NATIONS, October 13 — The United Nations General Assembly adopted a political declaration on pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response on Monday, passing the text by a vote of 153 in favor to three against, with two abstentions. The declaration calls for stronger national, regional, and international cooperation guided by science, equity, and respect for human rights, and welcomes last year’s landmark adoption of the World Health Organization Pandemic Agreement.
The text had been scheduled for approval by consensus at a high-level meeting on September 25, but objections from the United States and a few other states blocked that effort, forcing the issue back to the full assembly for a vote. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus welcomed the declaration’s commitment but urged member states to finalize negotiations on the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing system annex to the Pandemic Agreement.
He stressed that completing the PABS annex is essential for opening the agreement for signature, beginning ratification, and bringing it into force as international law. The PABS annex, which would establish a system for countries to share pathogen samples and genetic data in exchange for fair access to resulting vaccines, treatments, and diagnostics, remains stalled. Talks have deadlocked amid a standoff between developing nations and a coalition of some high-income European states together with the United States, which have resisted certain provisions on benefit-sharing and intellectual property.
The United States, along with Argentina and Israel, voted against the declaration, while New Zealand and Paraguay abstained. The declaration itself does not create new legal obligations but sets a political framework for action.
It emphasizes equitable access to medical countermeasures, strengthened surveillance systems, and sustained financing for preparedness — priorities long advocated by public health experts and low- and middle-income countries. With the political declaration now adopted, attention turns to whether the stalled PABS negotiations can resume and conclude before the next World Health Assembly. Failure to resolve the annex would leave the Pandemic Agreement unsigned and unratified, leaving the world reliant on voluntary measures and ad hoc cooperation in future health crises.
