On September 25, 2026, at the United Nations General Assembly's second high-level meeting on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, the United States declined to back the political declaration negotiated for it. The declaration is nonbinding; the New York Times called it “largely ceremonial.” Representing the United States was Dr. Erica Schwartz, the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Times reported.
The U.S. statement, as reported by Health Policy Watch: “Critical issues remain unresolved. Whether it is the inclusion of divisive ideologies that lack definitional consensus or references to an unfinished negotiation on pathogen access and benefit sharing in an agreement that failed to achieve international consensus, the United States is not in a position to support this text.” The United States, she said, “stands ready to work directly with responsible partners.” The Associated Press, which obtained the draft, reported that it covered financing, laboratory capacity, access to medicines and vaccines, and countering vaccine hesitancy and misinformation.
Precision matters on what happened next. There was no vote to block. The declaration was not adopted by consensus at the meeting, and the General Assembly's president said it “will be considered further by the member states in the General Assembly.” The World Health Organization said it “is expected to be forwarded to the United Nations General Assembly for further consideration,” and the Times reported it “is still likely to garner enough votes to be adopted.” Italy also explicitly rejected it, and the Times reported that the European Union objected over intellectual property; other outlets described the EU's position as reservations rather than opposition.
The move fits a pattern. The Times noted that the administration withdrew from the WHO last year and rejected the International Health Regulations, and that earlier this year the United States was the lone vote against a global commitment to reduce traffic deaths. See Withdrew United States from World Health Organization (Again).
Helen Clark, the former New Zealand prime minister who co-chaired the Independent Panel on pandemic preparedness: “Agreeing to collaborate to prevent, prepare for and respond to pandemics should not be controversial.” Peter Maybarduk of Public Citizen: “Blocking stepped-up cooperation against pandemics is an obvious shortsighted, unforced error.” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, answering sovereignty objections: “The pandemic agreement and the I.H.R. do not — I repeat, do not — infringe on national sovereignty in any way.”