The United Nations recently convened a high-level meeting on pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response, bringing together countries to renew commitments to strengthening global systems for dealing with future pandemics and public health emergencies. The meeting, held at the UN headquarters in New York, comes five years after the Covid-19 pandemic exposed significant weaknesses in health systems, surveillance, international cooperation, and equitable access to vaccines and medical products. The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in almost 780 million cases and over 7.1 million deaths globally since December 2019.
The high-level meeting focused on fostering a multilateral and intergenerational approach to prevent, prepare for, and respond to pandemics and public health emergencies through the principles of equity and solidarity. The meeting aimed to review progress since the first UN high-level meeting on pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response in September 2023, identify remaining gaps, and secure renewed commitments to strengthen pandemic preparedness. UNAids executive director Winifred Byanyima emphasized that the health sector alone cannot stop pandemics, and a whole-of-society response is necessary to address the issue.
According to Winifred Byanyima, the global council on inequality, Aids, and pandemics found that countries with strong laboratories, stockpiles, and surveillance, and high scores on preparedness indices, sometimes had poor outcomes. In contrast, some countries with less capacity did better. The council concluded that inequality fuels pandemics, and more unequal countries had higher Covid deaths, faster Covid spread, more HIV infections, and more Aids deaths. The council's findings have important implications for how the world thinks about preparedness.
The UN's concept note highlighted significant challenges that remain, including unequal access to health products, fragmented financing and governance mechanisms, and weaknesses in surveillance, laboratory capacity, and health systems. The note also acknowledged progress since 2023, including the adoption of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Pandemic Agreement in May 2025 and amendments to the International Health Regulations that entered into force in September 2025.
Discussions during the meeting centered on two broad areas: multilateral cooperation and equitable access and financing. The first multi-stakeholder panel examined lessons from Covid-19 and other recent health emergencies, strengthening trust and transparency between countries, and improving coordination among governments, international organizations, and other stakeholders. The second panel focused on surveillance and laboratory systems, health workforces, research and development, manufacturing, and supply chains.
The meeting was expected to culminate in the approval of a concise, action-oriented political declaration that was negotiated in advance by member states and will be submitted to the General Assembly for adoption. The UN stated that the declaration aims to translate the lessons of Covid-19 into stronger preparedness, including through resilient health systems, early-warning and surveillance systems, sustainable financing, equitable access to vaccines and therapeutics, and greater international cooperation.
The WHO has also highlighted the Pandemic Fund, strengthened epidemic intelligence systems, and expanded efforts to support regional vaccine manufacturing as part of progress since the first high-level meeting. The UN's call for global cooperation to prevent future pandemics emphasizes the need for a comprehensive approach that addresses the root causes of pandemics, including inequality, and promotes equitable access to health products and services.
Key points
- The UN high-level meeting aimed to strengthen global preparedness against future pandemics and public health emergencies.
- The meeting highlighted the need for a whole-of-society response to address pandemics, including addressing inequality and promoting equitable access to health products and services.
- The UN's political declaration aims to translate the lessons of Covid-19 into stronger preparedness, including through resilient health systems and sustainable financing.
