The Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has urged countries to conclude negotiations on an international pandemic treaty, warning that deadly disease outbreaks such as the ongoing Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo highlight the need for stronger global health cooperation.

Tedros made the appeal on Monday as the ninth round of negotiations opened in Geneva, Switzerland, amid disagreements between developed and developing countries over how the agreement would be implemented.

He identified the sharing of pathogens with pandemic potential and the fair distribution of benefits, including vaccines, tests and treatments, as the major outstanding issue in the negotiations.

The WHO chief warned that the unequal distribution of COVID-19 vaccines during the pandemic cost lives and prolonged the crisis, stressing that no country could protect itself from future pandemics by acting alone.