General Assembly adopts pandemic declaration, but not by consensus

The General Assembly on Monday adopted a political declaration on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, by 153 in favour to three against (Argentina, Israel and United States) with two abstentions (New Zealand and Paraguay).The text was due to be approved by consensus at a high-level meeting on 25 September. Objections from the United States and a few other States blocked that, pushing the issue back to the assembly.Read the full political declaration here.Chile’s representative summed up one prevailing view, saying that “no country, no matter how big it might be or how prepared it might be, can alone address a threat that knows no borders.”The declaration is political and non-binding. It calls for stronger national, regional and international cooperation, guided by science, equity and respect for human rights, and it welcomes last year’s landmark adoption of the World Health Organization (WHO) Pandemic Agreement.“WHO welcomes this strong commitment by UN Member States to continue working together on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response,” said World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.“The world has come a long way since COVID-19. We urge countr...