'End in sight' to talks on pandemic treaty, says WHO chief

Geneva: Countries trying to negotiate a global agreement on handling future pandemics began an extra week of talks Monday, with the WHO chief insistin...

Geneva: Countries trying to negotiate a global agreement on handling future pandemics began an extra week of talks Monday, with the WHO chief insisting the end was in sight.

The talks at the World Health Organization's headquarters in Geneva opened three years on from the decision to draft a new accord on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response taken in the heat of Covid-19 crisis.

"You know your task and you know what is at stake," WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told negotiators for the UN health agency's 194 member states.

"You should be proud of what you have achieved in the past three years and you should also be confident that the end is in sight. It's closer than you think.

"I believe that you can finalise the pending issues before the end of this year," he added.