Protesters in Pretoria called for South Africa's regulatory body to greenlight China's Sinovac and Russia's Sputnik vaccines amid a third coronavirus wave in 2021. A global pandemic treaty now being negotiated would seek to prevent such vaccine inequities. Phill Magakoe/AFP via Getty Images/Phill Magakoe/AFP via Getty Images hide caption There are a lot of bleary-eyed, sleep-deprived negotiators in Geneva, Switzerland.
They’ve already pushed back their timetable multiple times. Now, with their deadline looming, these delegates have been working late into the night to finish what experts call one of the most important treaties of the generation. Their negotiations are focusing on a war – but not with guns and tanks.
It's a war against viruses and other infectious diseases. Delegates from 194 countries are racing to complete a global pandemic treaty before the World Health Assembly starts next week on Monday, May 27. The annual gathering is attended by all of the World Health Organization’s member states.
At this year’s meeting, members are scheduled to adopt the treaty, a legally binding agreement aimed at both preventing and preparing for the next pandemic. Because virus experts think it’s not a matter of if, but when, the next pandemic strikes. This accord is one of the group’s most highly anticipated agenda items.
“This treaty is the most important thing in my lifetime,” says Lawrence Gostin , a university professor at Georgetown Law, where he studies global.
