Health Minister Mark Butler warned a new pandemic could be on the way in the future.
Australia has backed the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) global pandemic agreement, as the United States was a no-show at the assembly.
Australian ministers said the WHO agreement takes into account “lessons learnt during the COVID-19 pandemic” and supports “collective action” to address pandemic threats. This includes increasing disease surveillance and vaccine access.
Health Minister Mark Butler and Foreign Minister Penny Wong both called the adoption of the WHO agreement a “significant step” towards preparing and responding to future pandemics.
Wong said international cooperation on health was needed to keep Australia and the world safe.
Butler added, “The next pandemic is not a matter of if, but when. We have a collective responsibility to protect public health in all of our countries. The adoption of the WHO Pandemic Agreement is an important step forward.”
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The move comes as the U.S. government elected not to participate in the WHO’s first-ever international agreement and will not be bound to it in the event of a future pandemic.
While Australian Liberal Senator Alex Antic raised concerns the pandemic agreement would transfer decision making away from local authorities into the hands of “unaccountable globalist bureaucrats.”
In an email to supporters on May 23, Antic also expressed concerns about the agreement’s influence on decisions made by sovereign nations during health emergencies and called for Australia to withdraw from the WHO.
“This is particularly concerning given that the preamble to the pandemic agreement purports to recognise “the importance and public health impact of growing threats such as climate change. Will sovereign nations simply follow WHO recommendations if a ‘climate emergency’ is declared?” he said.
“If Australia is to remain the author of its own future, we must withdraw from the WHO.”
“Once the agreement has entered into force, Australia and our region will be better positioned to reduce pandemic risks and respond swiftly if a pandemic occurs, saving lives and mitigating the impacts on our economies,” Butler said.
The federal government said Australia would only start its “treaty-making process” after the agreement opens for signature from mid-2026.
What’s in the WHO Pandemic Agreement?
The WHO Pandemic agreement was adopted with the approval of 124 countries, zero objections, and 11 countries absent.
A key feature of the pandemic agreement is the WHO Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing System (PABS).
If a new virus or pathogen with “pandemic potential” appears, countries that are a part of this pandemic agreement will be required to share genetic sequence data with the WHO. This is aimed at developing quick development of therapeutics and vaccines.
Further, pharmaceutical companies will need to provide 20 percent of vaccines they develop using this data to the WHO during a future pandemic. This includes 10 percent sold at lower prices and 10 percent donated to the WHO for distribution to poorer countries.
“Each participating manufacturer shall make available to the WHO, pursuant to legally binding contracts signed with the WHO, rapid access targeting 20 percent of their real time production of safe, quality and effective vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics for the pathogen causing the pandemic emergency,” the agreement said.
The agreement states that the WHO does not have the power to enforce lockdowns, travel bans, or impose vaccine mandates.
It also states that parties to the agreement recognise, “growing threats such as climate change, poverty and hunger, fragile and vulnerable settings, weak primary healthcare and the spread of antimicrobial resistance.”
