WHO nations launch steps toward deal to fight pandemics

By JAMEY KEATEN
Associated Press

GENEVA (AP) — The head of the World Health Organization is hailing steps by its member states to launch work toward an international agreement to help prevent, prepare for and respond to future pandemics in the wake of COVID-19. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the consensus decision during a special session of the U.N. health agency’s members was a “cause for celebration.” It sets off work to establish an “intergovernmental negotiating body” to draft an agreement, which will take several years to be finalized. The consensus statement falls short of calls from European Union nations and many other countries who want the ultimate aim of the effort to be drafting a legally binding convention or treaty.