Ebola reminder of urgent need to finish pandemic treaty: WHO chief
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is urging nations to finalize a global pandemic treaty following recent outbreaks of Ebola and hantavirus. The treaty aims to establish a framework for sharing pathogens and medical benefits, such as vaccines, to prevent the inequities seen during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Why it matters
Establishing a global consensus on pathogen sharing is critical for international health security and ensuring equitable access to life-saving treatments during future pandemics.
Geneva, Switzerland, Nov 2, 2026 (AFP) - Deadly outbreaks like the Ebola epidemic raging in the Democratic Republic of Congo show the urgent need to complete an international pandemic treaty, the World Health Organization chief said Monday. Wealthy countries and developing nations remain at loggerheads over how an agreement, adopted last year as a framework to handle future Covid-like pandemics, will work in practice. As the ninth meeting towards finalising the deal opened in Geneva Monday, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called on countries to "finish the job". Pointing to several recent deadly disease outbreaks, he stressed that completing a pandemic treaty was "about protecting people". "A pathogen threat anywhere can become a threat everywhere, to people of every country," he said, according to a written version of his statement. "The outbreak of hantavirus earlier this year, and the ongoing Ebola epidemic in DRC remind us of this threat."
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