The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, announced that a new pandemic could occur in the world at any moment. He warned about this during his participation in a meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body held in Geneva to draft an agreement on pandemic prevention. He stated, "As the current outbreak of H5N1 (avian influenza) reminds us, the next pandemic may be just around the corner and can happen at any time, without waiting for us."
The Director-General described the document being prepared by the body as a "generational agreement," indicating the importance of the work being carried out by this body. He believed that "completing the negotiations this year would be a historic event." According to him, reaching consensus on unresolved issues is possible within a relatively short timeframe.
The Intergovernmental Negotiating Body is meeting on July 16 and 17 in Geneva, marking its tenth meeting since 2022. The body failed to finalize the pandemic treaty project before the 77th World Health Assembly (May 27 - June 1) this year, as originally planned, leading the General Assembly to decide to extend the body's work for a year. The results of the work on the document are expected to be summarized at the 78th World Health Assembly in May 2025 or during a special session of the Assembly, which may be held before the end of 2024.
