By CARICOM Secretariat
GEORGETOWN, Guyana – Following the formal adoption of the Pandemic Agreement by the World Health Assembly (WHA) in May 2025, discussions within the Caribbean Community have shifted to the next steps and the anticipated impact of the Agreement.
The Agreement outlines principles, approaches, and tools for enhanced international coordination across various areas, aiming to strengthen the global health architecture for pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response. This includes equitable and timely access to vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics.
CARICOM’s deputy secretary-general, Dr Armstrong Alexis, who led the CARICOM Secretariat’s delegation to the WHA, says the agreement is critical to the Community’s ability to provide for the needs of our population in the event of another pandemic.
“For us in the Caribbean, [the Pandemic Agreement] means a lot. Especially for anyone who takes a step back into 2021, or even in 2020, when this region struggled to secure vaccines because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
We recognise that Small Island Developing States (SIDs) are usually somewhere on the back burner when it comes to meeting the needs of the population when such a global phenomenon strikes. The Pandemic Agreement is designed to ensure that irrespective of the size of your population, irrespective of the geographic location that you are part of, you are not going to be left behind or your needs would not be prioritised …. So for us as a region, that agreement is critical to our ability to cater for the needs of our population, should there be another pandemic,” stated Dr Alexis.
What’s Next: Pathogen Access and Benefits Sharing System (PABS System)
Before the Agreement is open for signature, the critical next step includes negotiation of an annex to the Pandemic Agreement on the “WHO Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing System” or “PABS System” which will outline how countries will share pathogen samples and sequencing data along with the resulting benefits for vaccine and therapeutic development.
Dr Alexis believes these are vital aspects of the Agreement for safeguarding the region’s health infrastructure during a pandemic.
He stated, “This is important. There is still a process to be followed. There [are] steps to go through before we are able to see the benefits of that Agreement; But there is also recognition that in order for it to be implementable, all those other aspects need to be put in place, and that is where the emphasis is going to be over the next year.”
Outcome of informal consultations of Member States Draft resolution on the WHO Pandemic Agreement
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