On the road to consensus - WHO member states finalise historic pandemic agreement with universal health coverage at its core

We have reached a historic moment with the final meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) to draft and negotiate a WHO convention, agreement, or other international instrument on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response having drawn to a close. We, the UHC2030 Co-chairs, are pleased to see Member States coming together to build on their commitments made in the 2023 Political Declaration of the High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage.

Effective pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response will remain a piped dream without universal health coverage (UHC). With UHC recognized as a foundational element of the pandemic agreement countries are poised to move forward together to sustainably strengthen global health security - including by addressing equity barriers, particularly those of a financial nature, that disproportionately impact vulnerable and marginalized communities.

We particularly applaud Member States in their efforts to reach agreement on the following elements: 

• UHC operationalized through a primary health care approach and with its inherent focus on equity and resilience as a foundation for pandemic prevention, preparedness and response. UHC and global health security are two intertwined goals to protect everyone, everywhere, and they are achieved through the same health system. This requires prioritizing collective action and  maintaining affordable access to essential and routine health services during health emergencies while building the core health systems functions that are essential to protect everyone, promote health and well-being, and detect, assess and report public health events in line with the International Health Regulations.
• Investment in a multi-disciplinary, well trained, supported and protected health and care workforce, which is primarily comprised of women. Health and care workers are the backbone of well-functioning health systems. As such, they are essential to the efforts to prevent, prepare for and respond to health emergencies, while maintaining essential health care services and public health functions at all times and during pandemic emergencies.
• The critical role of whole-of-society approaches through social participation in planning, decision-making, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies, strategies and measures. Social participation is critical to ensure people-centered health services and build equitable and resilient health systems that respond to the needs of people and communities— especially considering various needs based on gender, ethnicity and socioeconomic status—both in crisis and in calm. More inclusive governance in health also provides the basis for creating trust with communities in public health policies and programmes, which is critical for better outcomes during health emergencies.  

We the co-chairs of UHC2030 look forward to the adoption of the pandemic agreement at the World Health Assembly. We stand ready to work with all partners to scale up efforts towards greater collaboration and solidarity in efforts to prepare, prevent, and respond to health emergencies.

Ensuring equity in access to healthcare is not only a moral obligation, but also a practical necessity to address every stage of a health emergency—before, during, and after. We will only be safe when everyone is safe, and we are only as strong as the most vulnerable members of our global community.

-Magda Robalo and Pamela Cipriano, co-chairs of UHC2030

 

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Background:
In December 2021, the World Health Assembly (WHA) established an intergovernmental negotiating body (INB) to draft and negotiate a convention, agreement or other international instrument under the Constitution of the World Health Organization to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness and response. The INB finalized the proposal for the WHO Pandemic Agreement on 16 April 2025, following 13 formal rounds of meetings and many informal and intersessional negotiations on various aspects of the draft agreement. The INB’s work will now be presented to the 78th World Health Assembly for its consideration and adoption.