GENEVA, June 2. /TASS/. Participants of the 77th World Health Assembly staged in Geneva from May 27 to June 1 agreed to introduce amendments to the International Health Regulations and continue talks on the pandemic agreement.

"The historic decisions taken today demonstrate a common desire by Member States to protect their own people, and the world’s, from the shared risk of public health emergencies and future pandemics," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Amendments made in the International Health Regulations "will bolster countries' ability to detect and respond to future outbreaks and pandemics by strengthening their own national capacities, and coordination between fellow States, on disease surveillance, information sharing and response," Ghebreyesus noted.

"The decision to conclude the Pandemic Agreement within the next year demonstrates how strongly and urgently countries want it, because the next pandemic is a matter of when, not if," he added.

The Assembly extended the authority of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body created in 2021 to develop the pandemic agreement. Outcomes of consultations are expected to be summarized at the next annual meeting of the Assembly in 2025 or at its special session in 2024.