GENEVA: Countries hoping to end more than three years of negotiations on battling future pandemics met for talks on Tuesday, after reaching a preliminary agreement last week.

It has been more than five years since the Covid-19 pandemic began, killing millions of people and devastating economies. Experts say an accord has become even more crucial with new health threats, ranging from H5N1 bird flu to measles, mpox and Ebola.

The negotiations had been scheduled to conclude last June, but were extended for a year in a bid to overcome disagreements. Delegates began meeting to finalise the text at around 10:15am on Tuesday behind closed doors at the World Health Organisation`s headquarters in Geneva.

`Although the agreement went through several compromises, it includes many positive elements,` medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said in a statement on Tuesday. The 13th round of talks started on April 7 as health agencies reeled from drastic foreign aid cuts by the United States the world`s donor superpower. Washington has not taken part in the negotiations, since President Donald Trump decided on his first day in office in January to begin withdrawing from the United Nations` health agency.-Reuters