Members of the World Health Organization reached a draft agreement on a pandemic treaty on Wednesday.



The member countries have been in final talks since April 7 at the WHO headquarters in Switzerland.



They discussed the international treaty, which is designed to strengthen global defenses against future infectious diseases, based on lessons learned from the recent coronavirus pandemic.



Although they reached a broad agreement on Saturday, they continued talks online to iron out disagreements on the wording in parts of the draft.



As part of pandemic preparedness and response efforts, the agreement calls on countries to promote the transfer of technology and knowledge for the production of pandemic-related health products, in particular for the benefit of developing countries.



The WHO also wants to launch a new multilateral system to share information on pathogens with pandemic potential as part of prevention efforts.



WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus welcomed the agreement. He said, "In the face of enormous challenges, you have come together, rising above borders and differences, united by a common goal, for the protection of humanity."



He called the draft "a significant step forward in improving our global response to future pandemic threats."



But the WHO said in a statement that "the proposal affirms the sovereignty of countries to address public health matters within their borders." It also noted that nothing in the draft agreement provides the WHO any authority to direct or alter national policies to take specific actions.



The draft agreement is expected to be officially adopted at an annual WHO meeting in May.