Monica Garcia welcomes the adoption of the Pandemic Agreement: "It is a big step towards multilateralism and global health"

The Minister for Health, Mónica García, during the World Health Assembly

The World Health Assembly, which is being held this week at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, has approved by consensus of all member countries the document of the so-called Pandemic Agreement, with the aim of avoiding the situation experienced during COVID-19 and strengthening the health response capacity at a global level.

"The Pandemic Agreement is an endorsement of the lessons learned from COVID and how we can face new health emergencies with better preparedness and response at a global level," said the Minister for Health, Mónica García, after its approval. "This means putting all the world's knowledge at the service of health, no matter where you live or what resources you have as a country or as a citizen".

In her speech to the member countries of the World Health Organisation, Mónica García stated that "at a time of rising denialist and isolationist discourse that undermines confidence in science, Spain is more committed than ever to multilateralism, to global health and to strengthening the institutions that protect us all". In this way, she continued, "this agreement is a decisive step towards a common global framework that strengthens the capacity to prevent, prepare for and respond to future health emergencies, protecting people in the most vulnerable situations and promoting equity".

Although an agreement has been reached, "there have been many moments in which it seemed impossible, and this should lead the countries of the Global North to consider a process of reflection," the minister recalled. The main barriers to achieving a beneficial agreement for the world as a whole "have been related to the inflexible and excessively self-protectionist positions of the countries of the North; in the face of this, we are proud to be able to say that Spain has tried to move towards more flexible positions that do not look after individual interests, but put the shared interest first in order to reach an agreement".

"This year's World Health Assembly will be truly historic with countries, after three years of negotiations, considering for adoption the first global compact to better protect people from pandemics", said Dr.Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. "The Pandemic Agreement can make the world safer by boosting collaboration among countries fairly in the preparedness, prevention and response to pandemics".

During these days, García is also holding a series of meetings with different leaders as part of the commitment of the Ministry of Health and the Government of Spain to continue strengthening multilateralism and to act as a bridge between continents and the Global South and North. She will meet with the director of the Pan American Health Organisation, Jarbas Barbosa, and the health ministers of Palestine, Mexico, Ireland, Finland, Sweden and Egypt, among others. In addition, she will also hold meetings with UNAIDS and UNITAID, an international initiative that promotes access to treatment for diseases such as AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in developing countries.

Non official translation