.png)
Follow Us!
Public Health Chronicle
Latest public health news and updates of the world
Progress on World Health Assembly’s “pandemic treaty”
Content Editor: Dr. Prachi Goswami
January 9, 2024 at 1:30:00 PM
Global Health, Pandemic
An international agreement on response to future health emergencies has been negotiated in Geneva since last year’s World Health Assembly.
Major points for negotiations are:
Low and middle-income countries want equitable access to medical products.
Waiver of intellectual property rights and access to research has been opposed by high-income countries.
Common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR), i.e. countries having different obligations based on their socioeconomic status are also opposed by some high-income countries.
There is a bigger pushback in the US, primarily because of distrust in the WHO by the Senate, which needs to give consent before the US can be part of the treaty.
The current draft is weak in enforcement and has vague obligations, questioning its purpose.
The deadline for countries to discuss it is in the May 2024 World Health Assembly, but there are concerns about it coming to fruition, given the slow pace of negotiations.