Governments are scrambling to finalize negotiations on the pandemic treaty, ahead of next week’s World Health Assembly. And all eyes are on one country in particular: the United States. As the Biden-Harris administration enters the final round of negotiations, weighs the pros and cons of pursuing different strategies, and prepares for the upcoming general election in November, it should consider three key policy options to secure global pandemic preparedness and response, or PPR, efforts.
Protecting the United States from the next global health threat has been a shared concern among U.S. lawmakers and officials. The inclusion of the bipartisan Global Health Security and International Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Response Act in the fiscal year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, which was signed into law in December 2022, clearly signaled this; the measure sought to enhance U.S. efforts to promote international PPR, recognizing the vital national interests that it serves.
However, while the goal of these endeavors — safeguarding the health of Americans and people around the world — is shared by many, elements of the PPR agenda relating to multilateral cooperation, have faced political headwinds.
About the author
Javier Guzman
Javier Guzman is the director of global health policy and a senior policy fellow at the Center for Global Development.
