Putting the Pandemic Agreement Into Practice: A Case for ASEAN

Edison Cosico, an administrative aide at the UPLB Museum of Natural History, secures his hazmat suit, in Los Banos, Laguna province, Philippines, on February 18, 2021 | REUTERS / Eloisa Lopez

In an article from Think Global Health, Mutiara Indriani and Suerie Moon discuss how the Pandemic Agreement—a treaty aimed at better preparing the world for potential pandemics—would take at least several years to come into legal force, but regions could start implementing some provisions today. The authors use ASEAN as a case study, for they have begun taking practical steps aligning with the new agreement's provisions.

In May 2025, the World Health Assembly reached a milestone with the adoption of the Pandemic Agreement, a treaty aimed at better preparing the world for potential pandemics. But the job is not yet done: The treaty cannot be ratified until countries negotiate and adopt a critical annex operationalizing arrangements to share pathogen samples, data, and benefits such as new vaccines. Governments are reconvening in mid-September to hammer out a deal, having fewer than nine months before the May 2026 deadline at the next World Health Assembly.  

This timeline makes the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) engagement urgent. Cambodia's recent unusual surge in deadly human cases of avian influenza, coupled with Chikungunya outbreaks across Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Timor-Leste, underscore the constant threat of pathogens. Another pandemic could strike the region at any time. 

The global treaty will take at least several years to come into legal force, but regions could start implementing some provisions today. The agreement’s terms aim to make access to vaccines, medicines, and test kits in times of health crisis more equitable, a key demand of many countries that struggled to secure supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic.