Geneva, Switzerland – The 194 members of the World Health Organization (WHO) will likely seek to negotiate a global pandemic pact or a similar agreement.

Ahead of the WHO's special session on Monday, there is broad consensus for such a move, according to diplomats in Geneva.

The session is only the second extraordinary meeting in the WHO's more than 70-year history.

The goal of a pandemic treaty would be to prevent a virus spreading globally again and plunging the world into crisis as it did during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Under the current plans, only a mandate for negotiations is expected to be agreed at the ministerial meeting. A working group would then determine the substantive issues and possibly present drafts by summer 2022.

According to the WHO's legal department, a treaty could be negotiated within several months.

What exactly the pact would regulate, what provisions it would make, whether it will contain sanctions, and how binding it will be are all questions that remain unresolved so far.

The EU supports the plans, as does WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

In China and the US, there are reservations about any requirements that could restrict national sovereignty.

Diplomatic sources say it is conceivable that not all countries would initially join such a treaty.