EXCLUSIVE: UN Draft Declaration on Pandemics Is Aspirational Rather Than Action-Oriented

Health Policy Watch

The final reading of the Political Declaration for the United Nations High-Level Meeting on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response (PPPR) is scheduled for Tuesday in New York – and while the revised text has a few more practical clauses than the bland zero-draft, it remains more aspirational than actionable. The revised version, which has been shared with Health Policy Watch, puts “equitable, people-centered and community-based” primary health care at the centre of countries’ pandemic mitigation. … In terms of equity, the declaration commits to strengthening “research and development capacity in developing countries” funded by “greater official development assistance”, surge financing and other “innovative financing”.