GENEVA - Years of negotiations culminated in the wee small hours of April 16 with countries agreeing the text of a landmark accord on how to tackle future pandemics, aimed at avoiding a repeat of the mistakes made during the Covid-19 crisis.

After more than three years of talks and a final marathon session, weary delegates at the World Health Organization’s headquarters could finally pop the champagne corks at around 2am (8am SGT) on April 16.

“The nations of the world made history in Geneva today,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.

“In reaching consensus on the Pandemic Agreement, not only did they put in place a generational accord to make the world safer, they have also demonstrated that multilateralism is alive and well, and that in our divided world, nations can still work together to find common ground, and a shared response to shared threats.”

Five years after Covid-19 killed millions of people and devastated economies, a growing sense of urgency hung over the talks at a time when new health threats ranging from H5N1 bird flu to measles, mpox and Ebola were lurking.

The final stretch of negotiations also took place with cuts to US foreign aid spending and threatened tariffs on pharmaceuticals casting a new shadow over the talks.

It’s adopted

Right until the last minute, disagreement had lingered over a few thorny issues.

Negotiators had stumbled over the agreement’s Article 11, which deals with transferring technology for pandemic health products, sources told AFP.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, poorer countries accused rich nations of hoarding vaccines and tests.

Countries that have large pharmaceutical industries have strenuously opposed the idea of mandatory tech transfers, insisting they be voluntary.

It appeared the tech transfer obstacle could be overcome by adding that any transfer needed to be “mutually agreed”.

In the end, the 32-page agreement was entirely highlighted in green, indicating it had been fully approved by WHO member states.

“It’s adopted,” Ms Anne-Claire Amprou, co-chair of the negotiations, announced to thundering applause.

The finalised text will now be presented for sign-off at the WHO’s annual assembly in May.

As intense talks in corridors and closed rooms continued at the WHO headquarters, Dr Tedros joined the negotiations late on April 15 and told reporters he thought the current draft was “good”, “balanced&...