On October 16, 2024, global parliamentarians convened in Berlin to approve the World Health Organization Pandemic Agreement during the UNITE Global Summit. In this historic agreement, these lawmakers were signatories of President of UNITE that set aside differences for a commitment toward better pandemic preparedness with health equity.
Ricardo Baptista Leite, president of UNITE said parliamentarians’ voice is important for public health. He further declares, “The WHO Pandemic Agreement, indeed, represents a historic opportunity to prevent pandemics and strengthen our global capacity to respond.” It basically echoes a promise to the principles that underpin equity, solidarity, and global cooperation are essential for effective health governance.
The summit, convened alongside the World Health Summit, brings together international lawmakers, heads of civil society, and health professionals in transforming dialogue into action in policy terms. Salient themes include Human Rights & Equitable Access to Health; Global Health Architecture & Security; Strengthening Healthcare Systems; and Sustainable Health Financing. Important milestones achieved were through the signing of the Global Parliamentary Statement in Support of the Pandemic Agreement, which reminded countries that it is in the best interest of parliaments to act on new developments in global health security.
This is a current agreement to negotiate changes that will mitigate vulnerabilities exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic and emerging threats such as mpox, fostering international cooperation over pandemics while ensuring that there is a level playing field for all countries in accessing the necessary resources to medical care: vaccines, treatments, etc.
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was grateful for the parliamentary ratification which emphasizes a step towards a fairer and better prepared global health structure. The declaration outlines four key commitments equality in health access, global solidarity, legislation support to the treaty and combating misinformation with correct information.
Elected representatives of their constituents, parliamentarians are better positioned than anyone else to advocate full adoption and implementation of the Pandemic Agreement. Such collective action underlines the importance of global cooperation in dealing with future health concerns. The declaration signed in Berlin should set the stage for further intensification of global parliamentary activism and cooperation.
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