WHO chief warns ‘history will not forgive’ failure to seal pandemic deal

GENEVA: The head of the UN´s health agency warned on Friday that history would not forgive countries if they fail to strike a pandemic treaty at the last hurdle -- with progress slow and time running out.

World Health Organisation leader Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said countries had reached the cusp of concluding a landmark agreement on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, as they wrapped up a week of talks.

But with only five more days of formal negotiations left, scheduled for April 7-11, countries agreed to hold informal meetings in March in a bid to break the deadlock. “You have made progress -- maybe not as much as you would have hoped but still there is progress,” Tedros said as the penultimate round of talks closed at the WHO headquarters in Geneva.

“We are at a crucial point as you move to finalise the pandemic agreement” in time for the WHO´s annual decision-making assembly in May. “You are so close. Closer than you think. You are on the cusp of making history.”

He urged countries not to sink the agreement on a word, a comma or a percentage in the text, imploring them not to make the perfect the enemy of the good. “History will not forgive us if we fail to deliver,” he warned.

The 13th round of talks kicked off under a cloud, with the United States -- besides quitting the WHO under President Donald Trump -- formally telling the UN health agency they would play no further part in the treaty talks.

But European diplomatic sources said optimism for a deal remained high despite Washington walking away. “The world needs a sign that multilateralism still works. Reaching a WHO pandemic agreement in the current geopolitical environment is that sign of hope,” Tedros insisted on Friday.

The treaty process began in December 2021, when, fearing a repeat of Covid-19 -- which killed millions of people, crippled health systems and crashed economies -- countries decided to draft an accord on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.

While much of the draft text has been agreed, disputes remain over sharing access to pathogens with pandemic potential and the sharing of benefits derived from them -- vaccines, tests and treatments.