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The Inter-Organization Programme for the Sound Management of Chemicals (IOMC) is submitting report on recent progress on Emerging Policy issues and Other Issues of Concern, identified under SAICM. These issues are part of the 19 Issues considered in the Assessment report on issues of concern, and are for which UNEP was asked to seek views on priorities for further work and on potential further international action, by UNEA resolution 5/7.

That definitive conclusion has energized a major HIV/AIDS conference this week

Twenty-six megatonnes of chemicals were illegally traded between 2004 and 2019, despite UN treaties meant to limit their transport and use. The substances, that can have harmful impacts on people and the environment, ranged from tetraethyl lead for fuels to tributyltin compounds for anti-fouling paint.

The new Swiss study has highlighted that there is a highly organised global trade of chemicals known to be hazardous to people and the environment. The researchers made their discovery by analysing over 66,000 trade records from the UN Comtrade database to identify the illicit trade taking place. Environmental experts are concerned as this new data shows that many chemicals that were previously thought to have been phased out globally are still being traded. These include pesticides such as 1,2-dibromoethane (EDB), a known carcinogen, and fuel additives, such as tetraethyl and tetramethyl lead, despite their neurotoxic effects.

In today’s edition we bring you an interview with Roland Driece and Precious Matsoso - the Co-Chairs of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body. The INB bureau, that this duo lead, is the cynosure of crucial global health negotiations that bring together 194 member states of WHO in an attempt to agree on a unified set of rules to govern future health emergencies. In a free-flowing conversation, they articulate their concerns and perspectives on these discussions.

For Africa, mRNA vaccines are beneficial and could be used to combat various bacterial and viral infections other than COVID-19 in the continent. mRNA vaccines can be produced in large quantities and are efficient and safe. Moreover, these vaccines can also be produced quickly, with minimal effort and without previous knowledge of biological pharmacological agents. With mRNA technology, malaria and tuberculosis vaccines can be developed, giving African nations good chances to fight these diseases endemic to the region.

With the fate and nature of the pandemic accord currently being negotiated by World Health Organization (WHO) member states still uncertain, global health experts are calling for “realistic” backup plans to protect the world against the next pandemic.

“We need an ambitious but implementable pandemic accord – that is the Holy Grail,” Javier Guzman, Director of Global Health at the Center for Development (CDG) told a CDG panel on Thursday convened to discuss the lessons of the pandemic, particularly in relation to the global COVID-19 vaccine access platform, COVAX.

“Now, will it materialize? Will it be enforceable? Would it be ambitious enough? Will it be ratified? I’m not very optimistic, based on what I’ve seen,” said Guzman. “So if that doesn’t happen – or if that happens, but it’s not enforceable, or it’s not what we all need as the globe – then we need to move to the second best option, which is realistic options.”

The worst outcome of the two World Health Organization (WHO) pandemic negotiations currently underway would be the adoption of contradictory definitions and processes, warned Dr Mike Ryan, the head of health emergencies at the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday. “At the very minimum, the two instruments will need to be very aligned on the […]

The Pandemic Fund’s Governing Board has approved grants under its first round of funding allocations aimed to boost the resilience to future pandemics in 37 countries across six regions. The selected projects will receive funding to strengthen disease surveillance and early warning, laboratory systems, and health workforce. 

The 6th meeting of the World Health Organization's Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB6) on the pandemic instrument continues to discuss the Bureau’s text, without any clarity on the development of the negotiating text.

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However, it must be noted that no textual changes can be made as a result of the informal meetings, because the understanding of INB5 is such that the informal meetings are better aimed at understanding each other’s positions, technicalities and trust building. Small states and those states that do not maintain large delegations in Geneva cannot fully participate in such meetings. This continuing practice of informal discussions without incorporating text proposals from Member States into the Bureau’s text is not generating a result. It has become increasingly clear that negotiations cannot start without textual insertion of Member States’ proposals.

With the sixth meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) meeting to develop a  pandemic accord currently underway in Geneva, the World Health Organization (WHO) chief minced no words when he slammed “groups with vested interests” for trying to sabotage the negotiations. “Twenty years ago, the tobacco industry tried to undermine negotiations on the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The same thing is happening now,” Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a media briefing at the WHO headquarters in Geneva on Wednesday. “Groups with vested interests are claiming falsely that the accord is a power grab by WHO, and that it will stymie innovation and research. Both claims are completely false,” said Tedros.