Key Insights | The Pandemic Agreement & its implications for PPPR in South & South-East Asia

This study analyses the implications of the pandemic agreement (PA) and its negotiations for building an equitable PPPR regime, focusing on South and South-East Asia and pathways to strengthen PPPR. 

The authors analyse the a) changes in the ‘equity’ provisions between the zero and final draft of the PA b) negotiations which produced the final PA c) role of India and South and Southeast as regions in the PA negotiations. The objective is to highlight the implications of the PA for an inclusive PPPR.

Methods

This analysis draws on a) Insights from a closed-door discussion with experts on health security and pandemic preparedness (CSEP, September 2025) substantiated with key informant interviews of ~30 experts including former bureaucrats, health, external affairs ministries, global health experts, journalists, academics, researchers b) Reports from meetings of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body  records, PA Drafts, WHO–World Bank frameworks, Global Health Law Instruments – IHR, PIP, CBD & Nagoya c) academic writings, bloc and member state statements d) live reporting on the negotiations presented in Geneva Health Files, Health Policy Watch e) roundtables in 5 countries Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam & Malaysia. 

 Findings and contributions

The presenters highlight that provisions in the PA focusing on equity needed alignment of national sovereignty with multilateral commitments. These were qualified as “voluntary,” “mutually agreed,” or contingent on “national capacities and circumstances”—or deferred to the first Conference of Parties (COP). The PA remains operationally weak. Negotiations produced only “mini pools” of high-level normative agreement, insufficient for genuine alignment or coordination needed to implement PPPR.

 The PA negotiations have presented a unique opportunity that regional structures within the Global South such as ASEAN need to consolidate their existing interventions which have implications on health issues and develop a convergent agenda to engage with global health governance.