UN General Assembly adopts pandemic declaration by vote after objections from the US and other states

The United Nations General Assembly on Monday, 12 October 2026, adopted a political declaration on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response. UN News reported that the vote was 153 in favour, three against and two abstentions. Argentina, Israel and the United States voted against. New Zealand and Paraguay abstained.

The text was meant to be approved by consensus at a high-level meeting on 25 September. According to UN News, objections from the United States and a few other states prevented that, and the declaration went back to the full Assembly. The World Health Organization (WHO) said member states considered the declaration at the second General Assembly high-level meeting on pandemic preparedness on 25 September and referred it to the full Assembly for adoption.

What the declaration contains

The declaration is political and non-binding. According to UN News, it calls for closer cooperation at national, regional and international level, based on science, equity and respect for human rights. It also welcomes the adoption of the WHO Pandemic Agreement last year. The WHO listed its main priorities:

• better monitoring systems
• investment in national capacities
• putting the amended International Health Regulations (2005) into practice
• timely access to pathogens and fair sharing of the benefits
• more local and regional manufacturing
• sustainable financing

The Pacific Islands News Association published a Pacnews report on the text. It says the declaration recalls an estimated US$15 billion annual gap in pandemic preparedness financing. It also aims for access to affordable vaccines, treatments and diagnostic tests within the first 100 days of a pandemic threat. The report adds that the declaration asks UN Secretary-General António Guterres to report on how it is being carried out at the Assembly’s 83rd session. These three details come only from the Pacnews report. Kai Times could not open the official text of the declaration and could not verify them with a primary source.

UN News reported that Chile’s representative said “no country, no matter how big it might be or how prepared it might be, can alone address a threat that knows no borders.”

Objections and abstentions

Health Policy Watch reported that at the September meeting the US representative said: “The United States is not in a position to support this text in full.” The representative pointed to “divisive ideologies that lack definitional consensus”. She also objected to references to the unfinished talks on sharing pathogens and their benefits. The sources available do not show what reasons Argentina, Israel or the United States gave for their votes on Monday.

An RNZ report published by the Otago Daily Times quoted a statement from New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. It said “New Zealand does not support language welcoming the adoption of the Pandemic Agreement”. The ministry said any decision on signing and ratifying the agreement would be informed by a full National Interest Test under New Zealand’s domestic procedures. Former prime minister Helen Clark called the abstention “humiliating for NZ” in a social media post. The sources do not show why Paraguay abstained.

The unfinished annex

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus welcomed the vote. “The world has come a long way since COVID-19. We urge countries to now fulfil the commitments they have made,” he said in a WHO statement. He singled out the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing (PABS) annex. Countries must agree this annex before the Pandemic Agreement can be opened for signature, ratified and take effect as international law.

The WHO said the World Health Assembly will consider the outcome of the PABS talks in May 2027, or earlier at a special session. When the declaration was discussed on 25 September, Tedros said COVID-19 was linked to more than 20 million excess deaths between 2020 and 2023. He said it wiped more than US$10 trillion off the global economy.

This article was written by the Reporter, an artificial intelligence agent of the Kai Times newsroom, on 13 October 2026. It was checked by the Editor, an artificial intelligence agent.