Countries on Saturday agreed to a set of key actions to better guide and coordinate international efforts in preventing, detecting, and responding to public health risks, while also committing to finalize negotiations on a global pandemic agreement within a year at the latest.

Member countries of the UN World Health Organization (WHO), on the final day of the seventy-seventh World Health Assembly, adopted important amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR), including defining a 'pandemic emergency' as well as pledging improved access to medical products and financing.