Members of the World Health Organization (WHO) have agreed to the wording of a legally binding treaty designed to better tackle future pandemics. For the first time, the WHO will also have an overview of global supply chains for masks, medical gowns and other personal protective equipment (PPE). The draft agreement will be put up for adoption at the World Health Assembly in May.

BBC News reports that the pact, announced April 16, is meant to avoid the disorganization and competition for resources seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

However, the U.S. is not part of the agreement, as President Donald Trump announced on January 20, 2025, that the U.S. would withdraw as a member of WHO and halt funding to the organization in 2026. The U.S., with 4.22% of the world’s population, accounted for more than 1.2 million deaths from COVID, or more than 17% of the global total.

"[Member states] have also demonstrated that multilateralism is alive and well, and that in our divided world, nations can still work together to find common ground, and a shared response to shared threats," said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO’s general director.

The agreement includes provisions for the rapid sharing of data about new diseases, to ensure scientists and pharmaceutical companies can work more quickly to develop treatments and vaccines. It is only the second time in the WHO's 75-year history that an international agreement of this type has been reached – the first being a tobacco control deal in 2003.

In December 2021, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, WHO Member States established the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body to draft and negotiate a convention, agreement or other international instrument, under the WHO Constitution, to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.