The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has adopted a political declaration on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response despite opposition from the United States.
The declaration was adopted on Monday, with 153 countries voting in favour, three opposing it and two abstaining.
Argentina, Israel and the US voted against the declaration, while New Zealand and Paraguay abstained.
The text was initially scheduled for adoption by consensus at a high-level meeting on September 25. However, objections from the US and several other countries prevented an agreement.
The matter was subsequently referred back to the UNGA, where member states voted on the declaration.
Washington was unable to use its veto power to stop the adoption because the decision was made by the General Assembly rather than the UN Security Council.
Although the US is one of the five permanent members of the Security Council, its veto applies to substantive decisions made by that body, not to UNGA resolutions.
The UNGA has 193 member states, with each country entitled to one vote.
The declaration is political and non-binding, meaning it outlines member states’ commitments and priorities but does not, on its own, establish legally enforceable obligations under international law.
It calls for stronger national, regional and international cooperation on pandemic prevention and response, guided by science, equity and respect for human rights.
The declaration also welcomes the adoption of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Pandemic Agreement in 2025.
WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus welcomed the declaration and urged countries to honour their commitments.
“The world has come a long way since COVID-19. We urge countries to now fulfil the commitments they have made,” he said.
Tedros also called on member states to conclude negotiations on the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) system, a key component of the WHO Pandemic Agreement.
The system is intended to facilitate the sharing of pathogen samples and genetic sequence data while ensuring that countries benefit from vaccines, treatments and diagnostic tools developed using them.
However, negotiations on the PABS annex remain unresolved, delaying the opening of the Pandemic Agreement for signature.
The World Health Assembly, the WHO’s decision-making body comprising 194 member states, is expected to resume discussions on the annex in May 2027.
The US representative had earlier expressed concerns about what the country described as “divisive ideologies that lack definitional consensus”, alongside references to the ongoing negotiations in the declaration.