Faster, fairer, safer: The WHO pandemic agreement and the road to 100 days

Faster, fairer, safer: The WHO pandemic agreement and the road to 100 days

Agreed at the 78th World Health Assembly, the World Health Organization’s Pandemic Agreement marks the first coordinated global commitment to pandemic prevention, preparedness and response since COVID-19. It’s a milestone grounded in hard lessons. The Agreement doesn’t just focus on future threats—it confronts past failings, from vaccine inequity to delayed responses, and lays a framework for doing better next time.

One of the most ambitious frameworks tied to this work is the 100 Days Mission—a global effort to ensure that safe, effective, and affordable diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines can be developed and deployed within just 100 days of identifying a new pandemic threat. Spearheaded by international health agencies, research institutions and industry partners, the mission reflects what we now understand all too well: speed saves lives. The faster we respond, the fewer lives lost, the less disruption to economies, health systems and societies.

For the partners behind the 100 Days Mission, the new Agreement marks a shift from aspiration to architecture. With the right enabling environment—including pre-agreed rules, equitable access strategies and R&D infrastructure—this goal becomes more achievable. The Agreement helps lay that foundation.

So what’s actually in the Agreement? It calls for stronger, more geographically diverse R&D pipelines, equitable access by design, and rapid information and pathogen sharing. But perhaps more importantly, it provides a common language and shared expectations—vital when coordination across borders and sectors is the only way forward.

Still, this is only the beginning. Each country must now decide how—and whether—to ratify and implement the Agreement. For Australia, that process won’t begin until at least mid-2026, once the final version opens for signature, but the federal government has already welcomed the adoption of the agreement. As Vice-Chair of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body, Australia helped bring diverse perspectives from the Western Pacific to the table.

While the Agreement is a start, implementation will be the real test. From revitalising medical countermeasure pipelines to embedding equity into R&D funding, there’s a long list of unfinished business. The Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) system needs careful design. Financing mechanisms must become operational. Coordination must extend across sectors—not just health, but finance, diplomacy, and development.

The international community has said, in writing, that we must be faster, fairer and more connected when the next pandemic hits. That’s an important start. But only follow-through will prove whether those words can protect lives. Because in a pandemic response, good intentions don’t make the difference. Preparedness does.