UN High-Level Meeting on Pandemic Preparedness Ends Without Consensus Declaration

The Second UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response convened in New York six years after COVID-19 forced the Assembly's first-ever virtual session, but member states failed to reach consensus on a political declaration. General Assembly President Khalilur Rahman said members would 'consider the document in future' rather than adopt it immediately, after the EU objected to weak financing-accountability language, Germany pushed for stronger prevention commitments, and the U.S. — which withdrew from WHO in 2025 — opposed references to 'divisive ideologies' and a separate pathogen-sharing arrangement. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged delegates to 'get PABS done as soon as possible,' warning that further delay 'costs all countries daily when the next pandemic arrives.'