The EU is ready to approve the amendment to the 2005 International Health Regulations, an amendment required to give more powers to the WHO for preparedness and response to future pandemics, as part of the future global agreement or instrument being negotiated for adoption in 2024 (see EUROPE 12921/16).
The EU is a strong proponent of a future legally binding international treaty on pandemics.
On Wednesday 18 May, the EU27 ambassadors to the EU approved a draft EU Council decision on the position that the EU will support to amend the International Health Regulations at the 75th session of the World Health Assembly in Geneva from 22 to 28 May.
The amendment, which was proposed by the United States and presented to all parties in January 2022 by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, aims to amend Article 59 of the International Health Regulations by shortening the period of time required to amend its provisions. In particular, this amendment reduces the period for these changes to come into force from 24 to 12 months, which will allow the IHR to be changed more quickly in the future.
The formal EU Council decision giving the green light to approve these amendments in Geneva will be adopted without debate at the EU Foreign Affairs Council (Development) on Friday 20 May.
At the G7 development summit in Berlin, which included a joint session of development and health ministers, European Commissioners Jutta Urpilainen (International Partnerships) and Stella Kyriakides (Health) called for “a new EU Global Health Strategy”: “We must have strong strategic health partnerships with other regions in the world. We must reinforce local health manufacturing capacities, in Africa and beyond” (see EUROPE 12951/21), they stressed in a joint statement issued by the Commission.
See the draft decision: https://aeur.eu/f/1ps (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)