Officials at the World Health Organization (WHO) are negotiating new rules for dealing with pandemics. The U.N. health agency's 194 member countries have set a target date of May 2024 for a legal agreement. A new agreement is a top goal for WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. He called it a generational commitment that we will not go back to the old cycle of panic at the U.N. agency's yearly meeting. The agreement seeks to improve the world's defenses against new viruses. The effort follows the worldwide spread of COVID-19, which is blamed for killing nearly 7 million people. The WHO already has rules known as the International Health Regulations, passed in 2005. The rules explain countries’ responsibilities when diseases and other public health events threaten to cross borders. WHO members approved the rules after the SARS outbreak in 2002 to 2003. These rules are still considered good enough for local epidemics, like Ebola, but not for a pandemic. The rules are also being reconsidered after COVID-19. Member nations have agreed that the new agreement should have legal force like a treaty does. It would be only the second such health agreement after the 2003 Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. That treaty aims to reduce smoking through taxation and rules on labeling and advertising. However, critics have voiced their opposition to the proposed treaty on social media. Opponents say approval could lead countries to give too much power to the WHO. The WHO says governments are leading the negotiations and are free to reject the agreement.