A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR GLOBAL HEALTH: THE 2025 PANDEMIC ACCORD

The accord aims to strengthen global cooperation, improve pathogen sharing, and ensure equitable access to vaccines during future pandemicsaddressing COVID-19-era failures.

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On May 20, 2025, the World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva adopted a historic global pandemic accord. This accord marks a transformative moment in international public health diplomacy, as it formalises a multilateral commitment to enhance global preparedness, response, and equity in managing infectious disease outbreaks. It was widely seen as a direct response to the systemic shortcomings exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and its adoption could represent the most significant restructuring of global health governance since the founding of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1948.

The COVID-19 catalyst: The COVID-19 pandemic (2019-2023) laid bare the deficiencies of existing global health mechanisms. Delays in sharing epidemiological data, unequal access to vaccines and treatments, and the absence of a cohesive international response all contributed to the pandemic's severity. Countries closed borders, hoarded supplies, and pursued unilateral solutions in a time when global cooperation was sorely needed. The resulting loss of life and socioeconomic disruption created an impetus for reform.

Calls for a new pandemic treaty began as early as 2021, with multiple countries and civil society organisations emphasising the need for binding commitments to transparency, equitable distribution of medical tools, and improved surveillance systems. The WHO, under the leadership of Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, became the focal point for these efforts.

THE 2025 ACCORD: The newly adopted pandemic accord outlines a comprehensive framework addressing preparedness, early detection, transparent reporting, research cooperation, equitable access, and accountability. Its most prominent features include: