Nature, 16 April 2025

First global pandemic treaty agreed — without the US

The World Health Organization accord promotes sharing scientific data in exchange for more-equitable distribution of drugs and vaccines.

For the first time — and despite fears that it might never happen — nations have agreed a series of measures to prevent, prepare for and respond to pandemics. The terms of the first global pandemic accord were still being hashed out at the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, up until the early hours of 16 April.

“This is a definitive moment in the history of global health,” says Lawrence Gostin, a specialist in health law and policy at Georgetown University in Washington DC, who followed the negotiations closely. The accord “sets out some very important norms to keep the world safe”, he says.