Ahead of the UN Multistakeholder Hearing scheduled for June 9, 2026, which is part of the preparatory process for the second United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting (HLM) on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response, to be held in September 2026, an open letter has been issued calling on Heads of State and Government, Ministers of State, Finance, and Health, and the leaders of international organizations and agencies to act.

Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI) has joined as a signatory to the letter, which was issued by The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, The Panel for a Global Public Health Convention, The Elders, and the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB). HGPI joins in calling on world leaders to move from incremental change to decisive action.

The letter points to three outbreaks unfolding in 2026 (the Bundibugyo virus, Andes hantavirus, and mpox), each described as “not new, but known,” each predictable, and none prevented. These are only a warning of what a pandemic-prone pathogen could do.

The letter places particular emphasis on the following calls to action:

1. Finalize, ratify, and implement the WHO Pandemic Agreement as rapidly as possible.
2. Establish fair, predictable, and accessible financing for sustained prevention and preparedness investment, including for the 100-days mission, and for rapid emergency deployment when threats emerge.
3. Implement the One Health approach by translating existing commitments into national and regional action plans that integrate human, animal, and environmental health.
4. Accelerate a pathway to regional self-reliance in the research, development, and manufacturing of medical countermeasures, with clear milestones, technology transfer, and capacity building.
5. Lay the groundwork to establish an outbreak and pandemic risk and readiness monitoring framework that tracks the full continuum, from emerging risks and risk reduction through prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery, to pinpoint where weaknesses persist and where investment is needed at every level.

The open letter is available in the PDF below (English only).

■ Background

The WHO Pandemic Agreement was adopted by WHO Member States at the 78th World Health Assembly on May 20, 2025. The Agreement will open for signature only after Member States finalize an annex establishing the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing System (PABS), currently under negotiation through an Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG). At the 79th World Health Assembly in May 2026, Member States agreed to continue these negotiations, with a final negotiated outcome to be presented for consideration at the 80th World Health Assembly, or earlier through a special session of the Assembly in 2026. The IGWG’s seventh meeting is scheduled for July 6–17, 2026.

The second United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response will be convened in September 2026 during the 81st UNGA High-Level Week. The Multistakeholder Hearing on June 9, 2026, convened by the President of the General Assembly at UN Headquarters in New York, forms part of the preparatory process and provides civil society organizations, academia, the private sector, and other stakeholders an opportunity to contribute to the HLM.