Sixteen leading scientists and manufacturers involved in vaccine development and production worldwide issue an urgent call for a pandemic accord that can be a ‘win-win for all.’ The full list of authors is available below.
Health misinformation was not invented during COVID-19 but was certainly brought to a higher, more malevolent and destructive pitch during the pandemic. That hostile crusade has since been (mis)directed at two landmark agreements, the Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response Agreement (Pandemic Agreement), and amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR), that are currently being negotiated by WHO’s 194 member states for approval at the World Health Assembly.
The overarching goal of ensuring that the world will deal more equitably with the next pandemic appears to be elusive as we near the deadline of May 2024 for the close of the negotiations.
Several social media and news outlets have claimed that the WHO is negotiating two instruments that will afford the agency far-reaching powers in case of a future pandemic.
Member-state led talks
While the WHO is the global custodian of human health, the WHO is not negotiating these agreements – the 194 member states are. Aside from being untrue, the false claims undermine the goals of the Pandemic Agreement and its ability to ensure that it remains centered around the key pillars of access, equity, and global health security.
Moreover, these false claims gainsay the grim facts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the lethal consequences that the lack of equitable access to life-saving medical countermeasures imposed on the greater part of the world’s population.
The Pandemic Agreement and the IHR amendments do not grant WHO far-reaching powers and do not compel member states to surrender national sovereign rights.
Rather, they seek to ensure that, by working together, the global community can ensure the health of all. The Pandemic Agreement is an important and empowering step in that direction.
Powerful instrument for for all people
The Pandemic Agreement is a powerful instrument for mankind and, while recognising that the WHO is the internationally-recognised lead agency, it is important to remember that WHO member states initiated these processes, remain the main players in the negotiations, and are themselves, not WHO, responsible for the outcome. The World Health Assembly (WHA), not WHO, decides on the content and adoption of the agreement.
It should be borne in mind that the Pandemic Agreement is NOT written for low- and middle-income countries, but for all countries to secure health security for all peoples – rich and poor. This is critical as pandemics do not stop at country borders, nor put all within a country’s population at similar risk.