Despite lifting the COVID-19 pandemic status, the medical scientific community agrees that similar crises may recur in the future due to climate change, the rapid growth of the global population, and, consequently, the increased anthropogenic impact on the environment. Negative consequences of human economic activity include the destruction of ecosystems and expanded contact with wildlife, which increases the risk of mutations in existing pathogens and the spread of dangerous infectious diseases. Such processes can be classified as a new type of transnational threat and their timely prevention requires the consolidation of international efforts and the activation of global health diplomacy. Under the aegis of the World Health Organization (WHO), a number of legal and institutional mechanisms involving a wide range of participants have been developed to prevent pandemics and respond to related challenges. This article examines their functioning in the context of similar international cooperation programmes and draws conclusions regarding future development prospects. The work analyzes documents that form the regulatory framework of WHO's international pandemic prevention initiatives and presents various perspectives from domestic and English-language literature on the assessment of the organization's activities. The main focus is on the draft of the Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Response Treaty, the WHO Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing System, the International Health Regulations, and the activities of COVAX. The author concludes that the results achieved by WHO do not meet its initial plans, and the reasons for the failures are systemic. They include countries' unwillingness to take on commitments that potentially limit state sovereignty, including accountability for breaches of agreements, as well as challenges with funding and limited transparency of international health organizations' activities overall. Practical recommendations are formulated regarding the formation of Russia's position on the future Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Response Treaty.

The research was carried out with the support of the Russian Science Foundation grant No. 24-28-01127, https://rscf.ru/en/project/24-28-01127/

This article was submitted on 11.03.2024