Members of the World Health Organization have agreed the text of a legally binding treaty designed to tackle future pandemics more effectively.

The new agreement looks to avoid the disorganisation and competition for resources seen during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Key elements of the draft treaty include the rapid sharing of data about new diseases, to ensure scientists and pharmaceutical companies can work more quickly to develop treatments and vaccines.

It also gives WHO the role to oversee global supply chains for masks, medical gowns and other personal protective equipment (PPE).

WHO members also agreed that countries will have to ensure that pandemic-related drugs are available across the world in a future outbreak.

Additionally, they approved the transfer of health technologies to poorer nations as long as it was “mutually agreed”.

Participating manufacturers will have to allocate 10 per cent of their production of vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics to the WHO. Another 10 per cent will then be supplied at “affordable prices”.

WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described the deal as “a significant milestone in our shared journey towards a safer world”.

US negotiators were not part of the final discussions after President Donald Trump announced his decision to withdraw from the global health agency, and the US will not be bound by the pact when it leaves in 2026.