After more than three years of negotiations, on Wednesday 16 April the member countries of the World Health Organization (WHO) approved by consensus a historic text aimed at better preparing for and combating future pandemics.
“This evening marks an important milestone in our shared journey towards a safer world”, said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
For the WHO, its Member States “have taken a major step forward in efforts to make the world safer from pandemics by developing a draft agreement that will be considered at the next World Health Assembly in May” (see EUROPE 13422/4).
The European Commission welcomed this “preliminary consensus on the Pandemic Agreement” as proof of the “continuing strength” of international cooperation and solidarity for global health.
The agreement aims to prevent and manage future pandemics, “in full respect of the health policy responsibilities and competences of individual EU Member States”.
For Olivér Várhelyi, European Commissioner for Health, this agreement will make a “significant contribution to strengthening our capacities for pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, and developing new medical countermeasures whenever necessary“.
Negotiations have long stalled over the transfer of technology for the production of health products linked to pandemics, particularly for the benefit of developing countries. Several countries where the pharmaceutical industry is a significant part of the economy are opposed to the idea of compulsory transfer and insist on its voluntary nature. In the end, a consensus emerged around the principle of “mutually agreed” technology transfer.
The text provides for the creation of a system for access to pathogens and the sharing of benefits, i.e. health products derived from their use, such as vaccines or tests. The text also aims to broaden access to these products by establishing a global supply chain and logistics network.
The negotiations took place in the context of a multilateralism and global healthcare system crisis, caused by Donald Trump’s drastic cuts in US international aid. The United States was absent from the negotiations, the US President having decided to leave the WHO. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)