The World Health Organization finalized and adopted its Pandemic Agreement but the U.S. is not a part of it.
The final agreement is a severely diluted version of what the WHO intended. Most notably, it is not binding and does not give the WHO the ability to usurp the powers of any given nation as the original draft would have. The agreement explicitly states that it does not grant the WHO authority to dictate or enforce health policies within countries.
The treaty does not require countries to waive intellectual rights and share vaccines and treatments as the original would have. This is because pharmaceutical companies pushed back on that, not world leaders.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued this joint statement with Argentine Minister of Health Mario Lugones today since both countries withdrew from the WHO and avoided joining this treaty.
“Withdrawal marks the beginning of a new path—toward building a modern global health cooperation model grounded in scientific integrity, transparency, sovereignty, and accountability. Our shared commitment is to cost-effective, evidence-based public health interventions that prioritize prevention, especially in children, by addressing root causes such as environmental toxins, nutritional deficiencies, and food safety standards.”
The Journal of the American Medical Association does not agree that this is positive. They say that the lack of U.S. participation weakens global health security, undermines equity, and jeopardizes America’s role in shaping future pandemic responses.
