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India's stakes in the Global Pandemic Agreement
ஏன் செய்தியில்?
Adopted in May 2025, yet who gets the vaccines? The WHO Pandemic Agreement GS2 must explain
The WHO Pandemic Agreement and India's role in global health governance.
Why it matters: factual, Prelims-type
What you need to know
2 நிமிடம்
The World Health Assembly adopted the WHO Pandemic Agreement in May 2025, and attention has turned to bridging divides between rich and poor countries over pathogen access and benefit sharing.
Commentators argue India's leadership can help the Global South secure fair access to vaccines and medicines in the next pandemic.
ஆதாரங்கள்: Topper IAS editorial (PIB / The Hindu / Indian Express)
முக்கிய உண்மைகள்
Remember these
- The World Health Assembly adopted the WHO Pandemic Agreement in May 2025.
- The agreement followed negotiations launched after the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Key divide: rich versus poor countries over pathogen access and benefit sharing.
- The World Health Assembly is the decision-making body of the WHO, which is headquartered in Geneva.
- India is seen as a potential voice of the Global South for fair access to vaccines and medicines.
ப்ரிலிம்ஸ் · மெயின்ஸ்
How the exam will ask it
ப்ரிலிம்ஸ்
- The World Health Assembly is the supreme decision-making body of the World Health Organization, which meets annually in Geneva.
- The WHO Pandemic Agreement was adopted by the World Health Assembly in May 2025.
- Pathogen access and benefit sharing is the central issue in the debate between developed and developing countries.
மெயின்ஸ்
GS2 (International Relations: international institutions; Health). The Pandemic Agreement seeks to improve global preparedness, but divides persist between rich and poor countries over pathogen access and benefit sharing. India can lead the Global South in pressing for equitable access to vaccines and medicines, drawing on its vaccine manufacturing capacity, and should push for binding, transparent benefit-sharing arrangements.
Quick recall
Answer before you reveal
The World Health Assembly adopted the WHO Pandemic Agreement in which year?
- 2021
- 2023
- 2025
- 2024
விடையைக் காட்டு
விடை: C — Correct: 2025 — The Assembly adopted the Pandemic Agreement in May 2025, after negotiations launched following the COVID-19 pandemic. • 2021 — wrong: 2021 is when WHO members agreed to begin negotiating such an instrument, not when it was adopted. • 2023 — wrong: 2023 falls in the middle of the negotiation period, before the text was finalised. • 2024 — wrong: 2024 saw negotiations continue and the Assembly did not finalise the text that year.
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