Breakthrough unlikely in pandemic treaty talks

Pandemic treaty talks stall, aiming for 2025 as key issues remain unresolved.

GENEVA:

A bonus round of talks striving to finish a landmark global agreement on handling future pandemics was set to close Friday without a breakthrough.

The week of talks at the World Health Organization's headquarters in Geneva opened Monday — almost exactly three years to the day after countries decided, in the heat of the Covid-19 crisis, to draft a new accord on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response. The closed-door session was added on to the 12th round of negotiations held last month in the hope of nailing down a deal by the end of the year.

But amid grinding incremental progress, the talks were set to roll into 2025 without resolving some of the toughest sections.

Co-chair Anne-Claire Amprou urged countries to approve "as much as we can" by the end of Friday.

The objective, she told an open session with non-governmental organisations, was "to finalise a negotiation and get this pandemic agreement, even if it's not perfect".

The WHO's 194 member states negotiating the treaty have agreed on most of what it should include, but are stuck on the practicalities. A key fault-line lies between Western nations with major pharmaceutical industry sectors and poorer countries wary of being sidelined when the next pandemic strikes.