September World leaders have renewed international efforts to strengthen preparedness for future pandemics, calling for sustained investment, stronger health systems and greater cooperation between countries.

The discussions took place during the Second United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response, held in New York on September 25. The meeting reviewed progress made since the first high-level meeting in 2023 and examined remaining weaknesses in global health security.

Lessons From COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed major weaknesses in disease surveillance, healthcare capacity, international coordination and access to vaccines, medicines and diagnostics.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the meeting that COVID-19 was associated with more than 20 million excess deaths between 2020 and 2023 and caused more than US$10 trillion in economic losses.

The latest UN meeting was intended to ensure that the lessons from the pandemic translate into longer-term preparedness rather than short-term emergency measures.

WHO Pandemic Agreement

Countries highlighted progress made since 2023, including the adoption of the WHO Pandemic Agreement and amendments to the International Health Regulations (2005).

WHO says the Pandemic Agreement is intended to strengthen international cooperation on preventing, preparing for and responding to future pandemics. However, an important component—the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) system—is still under negotiation.

The PABS system is intended to establish arrangements for sharing pathogens with pandemic potential while also ensuring equitable access to benefits such as vaccines, medicines and diagnostic technologies developed from those pathogens.

Surveillance and Early Warning

International health organisations have also expanded systems designed to detect emerging outbreaks more quickly.

WHO highlighted initiatives including its Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence, the WHO BioHub System, the Global Health Emergency Corps and the Pandemic Fund. Regional vaccine and medical-product manufacturing capacity has also been expanded in several countries.

These measures are designed to improve the ability of countries to identify unusual disease patterns and respond before outbreaks become international emergencies.

Financing Remains a Challenge

Despite progress, the UN and WHO say significant gaps remain.

Countries continue to face challenges involving sustainable financing, laboratory capacity, disease surveillance, healthcare infrastructure and equitable access to health products. The UN also highlighted fragmented financing and governance as continuing weaknesses in global pandemic preparedness.

WHO has therefore called for continued and predictable investment rather than waiting until a new outbreak becomes a global emergency.

International Cooperation Remains Central

The meeting emphasised that infectious diseases can cross national borders quickly, making cooperation between countries an important part of outbreak response.

The political declaration discussed at the meeting focuses on equity, solidarity, multilateral cooperation and sustainable investment in pandemic prevention and preparedness.

The latest commitments do not eliminate the possibility of future pandemics, but they represent an effort to strengthen the international systems that would be used when a new infectious threat emerges.

The Next Step

A major issue now is completing negotiations on the pathogen access and benefit-sharing component of the WHO Pandemic Agreement.

WHO says agreement on this remaining element would allow countries to move toward national consideration and ratification of the broader Pandemic Agreement.

The global health community is therefore moving from the lessons of COVID-19 toward building longer-term systems for early detection, rapid response, medical-product access and international coordination.