World leaders meeting at the United Nations on 25 September renewed commitments to pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, stressing that stronger national systems must be matched by international cooperation and more equitable access to health products.
The second UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting on pandemic preparedness reviewed progress since 2023, including adoption of the WHO Pandemic Agreement and expanded global capacity for surveillance, pathogen sharing and local production of vaccines and treatments.
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said COVID-19 was associated with more than 20 million excess deaths between 2020 and 2023 and wiped more than $10 trillion from the global economy, with leaders saying preparedness must remain a political priority between emergencies.
Governments also called for completion of the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing annex to the WHO Pandemic Agreement, intended to enable timely sharing of pathogens and equitable sharing of vaccines and diagnostics developed from them.