If the negotiators rush to conclude talks on the treaty with the existing proposals, the Global South will not be in a better position to respond when the next pandemic comes.

This week, negotiators are meeting in Geneva for the 12th round of negotiations (4 to 15 November) to conclude a Pandemic Agreement (PA). Though the 77th World Health Assembly provided time until May 2025 to conclude the negotiations, the Bureau of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB), which is coordinating the negotiation, is aiming to conclude the negotiation process "as soon as possible", as articulated in the opening comments of the co-chairs during the 12th INB meeting.

During the same session, World Health Organization (WHO) director-general, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, also "urged" negotiators "to complete the agreement before the end of this year" and indicated that he believes this is "possible".

In practice this would mean concluding the negotiations by December 2024 and adopting the PA at a special session of the World Health Assembly in the same month.

The Africa Group, including South Africa, are advocating for the conclusion of the negotiation in December 2024. In the group's opening statement at the start of this week's meeting it said it was "resolute in its ambition to finalise the agreement process by December 2024". However, it would be mistaken in doing so if the PA does not deliver...