The United Nations General Assembly has adopted a new political declaration on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, with 153 countries voting in favour — but the pact remains non-binding, and a critical annex on how the world shares pathogen data and medical countermeasures is still unfinished, according to reports.
The declaration was adopted on October 12 after months of stalled negotiations. Argentina, Israel and the United States voted against it, while New Zealand and Paraguay abstained. The text had been due for approval by consensus at a high-level meeting on September 25, but objections led by the United States pushed the issue back to the full assembly for a vote.
A vote, not a consensus
The declaration calls for stronger national, regional and international cooperation on pandemic prevention, guided by science, equity and respect for human rights. It also welcomes the adoption last year of the World Health Organization’s Pandemic Agreement, described as a landmark framework. Speaking before the vote, the US representative said Washington was dedicated to collaborative efforts on future pandemics but could not support a text that overlooked national policy boundaries. Chile’s representative told the assembly that no country could alone confront a threat that knew no borders.
What countries must do next
The declaration frames pandemic preparedness as a public-health, economic and security imperative requiring sustained investment in national, regional and global capacities to prevent, detect and respond to future threats. That language matters because the next pandemic is more likely to be contained or not at the level of health systems, laboratories and surveillance networks, not in diplomatic communiques.
The immediate test is the unfinished Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing (PABS) system — the annex that would govern how countries share pathogen samples and genetic data in exchange for fair access to vaccines, treatments and diagnostics. Talks remain deadlocked between developing nations and high-income countries over how the benefits of pandemic-related innovation should be distributed. The annex is expected to be considered at the next World Health Assembly in May 2027; without it, the WHO Pandemic Agreement cannot open for signature or enter into force as international law.
Domestic prevention regimes are tightening in parallel, with regulators in the United States setting out new food-safety prevention steps after a record outbreak. The World Health Organization has also been pressed in recent months to show it can investigate health-security incidents quickly when they arise.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus welcomed the assembly’s move, urging countries to fulfil the commitments they had made — above all by finalising the PABS negotiations. The full vote record and the declaration text are available through UN News’ coverage of the General Assembly vote.
