WHO member states approve resolution calling for adoption of landmark pandemic deal

GENEVA - Member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) have voted here in favor of a resolution calling for the adoption of a landmark global accord aimed at improving pandemic preparedness worldwide.

The WHO Pandemic Agreement and the resolution calling for its final adoption are expected to be adopted Tuesday at a plenary session of the World Health Assembly (WHA), the WHO's decision-making body.

The Monday approval at a meeting in WHA's Committee A followed a more than three-year process that involved tremendous negotiations.

The pandemic agreement, the first of its kind, addresses the gaps and inequities in preventing, preparing for and responding to pandemics, so as to foster stronger collaboration and cooperation, said the WHO in a news release.

"Governments from all over the world are making their countries, and our interconnected global community, more equitable, healthier and safer from the threats posed by pathogens and viruses of pandemic potential," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the UN specialized agency's director-general.