World Health Organization (WHO) director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed regret that no agreement could be reached on a pandemic treaty at the UN body's annual meeting, which started in Geneva on Monday.
But he expressed hope on a future agreement. "No one said multilateralism is easy, but there is no other way," Tedros told the World Health Assembly, the WHO's decision-making body.
Signing the treaty was to have marked the meeting's highpoint. Negotiators failed to reach a consensus on sensitive subjects such as the distribution of medicines, protective materials and vaccines in future pandemics. The assembly now hopes to decide on the next steps towards achieving a global treaty.
The theme of this year's meeting is "All for Health, Health for All," with member states seeking to lay down guidelines for priorities for the next four years.
Tedros noted that 4.5 billion people around the world had no access to health services and outlined the aim for all people who were sick or injured and for all pregnant women to have access to medical services near their homes and in good time.
Other aims include a plan to eliminate malaria in numerous countries by 2030 and steps to combat the alarming rise in antimicrobial resistance.
Drawing on the experience of the coronavirus pandemic, a reform of the International Health Regulations (IHR) was to be passed during the meeting on binding rules and obligations for member states in the event of threats to public health.
The aim is to prevent diseases spreading across national borders, including an obligation to monitor diseases and to report unusual events to the WHO immediately.
The IHR does not mention the word "pandemic" but does allow the WHO to declare a health emergency of international scope.