In the early hours of Wednesday morning in Geneva, countries finalized a draft global agreement aimed at improving how the world prepares for and responds to pandemics, marking a historic step that will be submitted to the World Health Assembly in May for adoption.

It's taken three years to agree a legally binding global defense against pandemics, but now, without US participation, WHO member nations have done it.

The World Health Organization accord promotes sharing scientific data in exchange for more equitable distribution of drugs and vaccines.