World Health Organisation: Pandemic Accord Negotiations and International Health Regulations

I would like to update the House regarding the final round of negotiations on the international agreement on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response—the pandemic accord—at the World Health Organisation, as well as the targeted amendments to the international health regulations, which were agreed in June 2024.

In March 2021, member states of the WHO, including the UK, agreed to draft and negotiate a pandemic accord to keep the UK and the world safer from pandemic threats. I am pleased to announce that following the most recent rounds of negotiations between 7 to 11 April and 15 to 16 April, the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body has reached agreement on the full text. WHO member states will consider its formal adoption at the World Health Assembly next month.

This is a historic moment for the UK and global health security. The accord should meaningfully improve UK and global pandemic prevention, preparedness and response capabilities. It should protect lives, livelihoods, the economy and the NHS, and bring genuine benefits to UK health security, jobs and growth, in line with the Government plan for change.

Since the House was last updated, UK officials have worked closely with our global partners to resolve the key remaining issues in the accord, including on the pathogen access and benefit sharing—PABS—system. This will be a new, voluntary system for pharmaceutical companies to sign up to in order to gain faster access, with less red tape, to the pathogens they need to create new vaccines, treatments and tests in the event of a pandemic. This is good news for scientific innovation, good news for the UK’s world-leading life sciences industry, and good news for all of us.

Negotiators also resolved outstanding and important issues on pandemic prevention. The accord will ensure that member states take comprehensive action, together, to better prevent pandemics and improve disease surveillance so we can detect and respond to emerging pandemic threats promptly. In addition, the inclusion of a “One Health” approach in the accord—which recognises the vital link between animal, human and environmental health—strengthens multi-sectoral collaboration, helping to better address the emergence of pandemic risks, many of which originate in animal populations. At the same time the accord protects the sovereignty of member states, including the UK, to make their own public health decisions in the event of a global health emergency.

I now look forward to the 78th meeting of the World Health Assembly in May, where member states will come together to make a final decision on whether to adopt the accord. If adopted, member states will then start negotiations to agree the details of how the PABS system will operate, after which it will be up to each member state to decide whether to ratify the pandemic accord.