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From 29 April to 10 May 2024, WHO Member States resume negotiations of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body aiming at finalizing a pandemic agreement. This new round of negotiations takes place within the ninth meeting of the INB started on 18 March. Government negotiators are discussing all articles from the draft agreement. This new session is a critical milestone ahead of the 77^th World Health Assembly, starting 27 May 2024, at which Member States are scheduled to consider the proposed text of the world’s first agreement on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response for adoption.

PREZODE was invited, to bring, as an observer, new comments on the text. We raised our concerns about the step backward that has been made on the One-Health approach since the last INB session in March.

We recalled the Initiative’s main priorities: strengthening the primary prevention, crucial to reducing the risks of zoonotic spillover and spillback; enhancing surveillance coordination across sectors to ensure detection of any potential outbreaks early and taking the necessary steps to prevent them from spreading further. We called ‘for a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach to be adopted in the text. Communities must be supported, informed, and engaged not just in early detection and surveillance but also in meaningful prevention plans”.

Urging all Member States to redouble their efforts to agree on a unifying and impactful text, PREZODE reiterates its willingness to provide support and expertise to the Open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group on the One Health approach for pandemic prevention.

Read more on the 18^th March statement of PREZODE.