Conventions, framework agreements and treaties are all examples of international instruments, which are legal agreements made between countries that are binding.
There are international instruments addressing a broad range of topics, including tobacco control, nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, climate change and many other threats to our shared security and well-being.
A key international instrument on international health, rooted in the WHO Constitution, is the International Health Regulations (2005), which was established “to prevent, protect against, control and provide a public health response to the international spread of disease in ways that are commensurate with and restricted to public health risks, and which avoid unnecessary interference with international traffic and trade”.
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世卫组织会员国为何决定订立大流行防范和应对文书？
Why did WHO’s Member States decide to create an accord for pandemic preparedness and response?
In light of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, WHO’s 194 Member States established a process to draft and negotiate a new convention, agreement, or other international instrument (referred to in the rest of this FAQ, generally, as an “accord”) on pandemic preparedness and response.
This was driven by the need to ensure communities, governments, and all sectors of society – within countries and globally – are better prepared and protected, in order to prevent and respond to future pandemics.
The great loss of human life, disruption to households and societies at large, and impact on development are among the factors cited by governments to support the need for lasting action to prevent a repeat of such crises.
At the heart of the proposed accord is the need to ensure equity in both access to the tools needed to prevent pandemics (including technologies like vaccines, personal protective equipment, information and expertise) and access to health care for all people.
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为什么全球公共卫生领域需要这样的国际协定和文书？
Why are such international agreements and instruments needed in global public health?
WHO Member States have developed multiple global legally-binding agreements, conventions, accords, and other types of international instruments to protect and promote people’s health, including the WHO Constitution itself, the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, and the International Health Regulations.