Pandemic Agreement could prevent “deadly greed and nationalism of COVID-19”

Responding to news that WHO member states have adopted a Pandemic Agreement, Dr Mohga Kamal-Yanni, policy co-lead at the People’s Medicines Alliance, said:

“WHO member states adopted a resolution on the Pandemic Agreement, paving the way for preventing the deadly greed and nationalism of COVID-19.

“The Agreement is not perfect. Pharmaceutical companies and their allies in rich countries managed to water it down. Governments have another year to agree a desperately needed system for sharing pathogens combined with sharing the vaccine, and other innovations as well as the technology that come as a result.

“But there are some rays of hope. After the public poured billions of dollars into COVID vaccines only to see them exploited for profit, governments have pledged to attach conditions to public funding. There are binding – albeit insufficient – commitments to share a portion vaccine stocks with WHO.

“This Agreement gives countries some of the tools to build a fairer global health system. For the world to be better prepared, governments must start building systems and cooperating to honour the agreement.”

/Ends

Background note

Through the negotiations, developing countries tried to include measures to secure access to medical tools by sharing products and technologies and removing intellectual property barriers. They also pushed for clear mechanisms to ensure rapid access pathogens that is combined with benefit from the products, technology and share in the profit that results from this sharing.  EU, UK, and other wealthy countries diluted these commitments.

In March 2023, more than 200 world leaders, Nobel laureates, civil society organisations, faith leaders, and health experts called on governments to “Support a Pandemic Accord at the WHO that embeds equity and human rights in pandemic preparedness and response,” and to “never again” allow “profiteering and nationalism” to come before the needs of humanity in a pandemic. The letter was  organised by the People’s Medicines Alliance (then named the People’s Vaccine Alliance): https://peoplesmedicines.org/resources/media-releases/world-leaders-say-never-again-to-vaccine-inequity/

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