UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — India’s stakes in the Global Pandemic Agreement

Q1. With reference to the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) system envisaged under the WHO Pandemic Agreement, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. The system is meant to cover the genetic sequence information of pathogens with pandemic potential, not only physical samples of them.
  2. Benefits such as vaccines and diagnostics are to be allocated in proportion to the pathogen samples that each country has contributed.
  3. Sharing benefits is placed on an equal footing with sharing pathogens, rather than treated as a voluntary afterthought.
  • A. 2 and 3 only
  • B. 1 and 3 only
  • C. 1 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q2. With reference to the WHO Pandemic Agreement and the Political Declaration on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response (PPPR) of September 2026, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. Both instruments were adopted by bodies of the World Health Organization in Geneva.
  2. The Political Declaration calls for the PABS annex of the Pandemic Agreement to be completed in good time.
  3. Unlike the Political Declaration, the Pandemic Agreement can enter into force only after a minimum number of states have ratified it.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 1, 2 and 3
  • C. 2 only
  • D. 2 and 3 only

Q3. With reference to the International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005) as amended, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are NOT correct?

  1. The legal category of 'pandemic emergency' was created through amendments to the IHR, not through the WHO Pandemic Agreement.
  2. A 'pandemic emergency' is a lower alert threshold than a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), meant to be triggered earlier in an outbreak.
  3. The States Parties to the IHR include all WHO member states as well as some states that are not WHO members.
  • A. 2 and 3 only
  • B. 1 and 3 only
  • C. 2 only
  • D. 1 only

Q4. A WHO member state stays completely passive after the World Health Assembly adopts two instruments: (i) amendments to the International Health Regulations (2005), and (ii) a new agreement negotiated under Article 19 of the WHO Constitution. It neither notifies the Director-General of any rejection nor deposits any instrument of ratification. Once each instrument comes into force, which of the following best describes this state's legal position?

  • A. Bound by the IHR amendments but not by the new agreement
  • B. Bound by neither until it formally consents to each
  • C. Bound by both, because the Health Assembly adopted each
  • D. Bound by the new agreement but not by the IHR amendments

Q5. With reference to the One Health approach, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. It seeks to balance and optimise the health of ecosystems along with the health of people and animals.
  2. Its scope extends beyond zoonotic outbreaks to challenges such as antimicrobial resistance.
  3. In the WHO Pandemic Agreement negotiations, objections to binding One Health obligations centred on whether countries with fragile health systems would get assured funding to meet them.
  • A. 2 and 3 only
  • B. 1 only
  • C. 1, 2 and 3
  • D. 1 and 2 only

Q6. A state government wants to strengthen pandemic prevention. Which of the following measures most directly applies the One Health approach?

  • A. Doubling intensive-care bed capacity in district hospitals to absorb surges of patients
  • B. Advance purchase contracts with vaccine makers reserving doses for frontline health staff
  • C. Thermal screening of arriving international passengers at airports during an outbreak
  • D. Joint avian flu surveillance across poultry farms, wild birds and exposed farm workers

Q7. Consider the following facts about the WHO Pandemic Agreement: (i) the 78th World Health Assembly adopted it with 124 votes in favour, none against and 11 abstentions; (ii) it opens for signature only after the Health Assembly adopts its PABS annex; (iii) it enters into force 30 days after 60 countries have ratified it. Which of the following inferences can be drawn from the above facts?

  1. Whether the Agreement will impose obligations on a particular state depends on that state's own ratification, not on how it voted at the 78th WHA.
  2. Even if 60 states were ready to ratify at once, the Agreement could not enter into force while the PABS annex remains unadopted.
  3. The abstaining states objected to the principle that pathogen sharing should be linked to benefit-sharing.
  4. Once in force, the Agreement will bind every WHO member state, including those that abstained.
  • A. 1, 2 and 4 only
  • B. 1 and 2 only
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1 and 4 only

Q8. Consider the following statements: Which of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

  1. Under the TRIPS Agreement, a WTO member can issue a compulsory licence for a medicine only when WHO has declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern for that disease.
  2. The Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health (2001) affirmed that each WTO member is free to determine the grounds on which it grants compulsory licences.
  • A. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I
  • B. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I
  • C. Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
  • D. Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct