STEPHANIE NEBEHAY SOUTH Africa has revealed that consensus had been reached to hold a special ministerial session of the World Health Organization (WHO) at the end of the year to consider negotiating a new international treaty on pandemic preparedness. The WHO, whose handling of the COVID-19 pandemic is under scrutiny, has endorsed a proposal, initially made by the European Union, to negotiate a global treaty as a way to ensure countries' political commitment to fighting outbreaks of new or particularly dangerous diseases. The WHO's World Health Assembly will meet from November 29 to December 1. A report by an independent…