The United States has rejected an agreement approved by members of the World Health Organization (WHO) to advance preparations for the next pandemic, following a botched global response to the coronavirus pandemic, the US government has announced.
The US Department of State and the US Department of Health said in a statement that they have officially conveyed the US refusal to implement the pact, which was adopted in May in Geneva, after three years of negotiations.
The pact aims to ensure that medicines, therapies and vaccines are accessible worldwide in the event of another pandemic.
The document asks participating manufacturing companies to guarantee that 20 percent of vaccines, drugs and tests will be allocated to the WHO during a pandemic, so that poor countries have access to them.
American negotiators have abandoned these negotiations after US President Donald Trump initiated a 12-month process for the US to withdraw from this agency, shortly after he began his new presidential term.
The US is the largest financial supporter of the WHO.
"The terminology used in the 2024 amendments is vague and general, jeopardizing WHO's coordinated international response that focuses on political issues such as solidarity, rather than on rapid and effective action," said a statement issued by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic on March 11, 2020.
More than 7 million people have died since the outbreak of the pandemic worldwide.
The United States has recorded the highest number of deaths, followed by India and Brazil./ REL (A2 Televizion)
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