World Health Organization (WHO) member states have entered their final week of scheduled negotiations on the pandemic agreement (PA), amid renewed urgency following the United States withdrawal from the organization and widespread aid cuts that carry serious implications for global health. With limited time before the May World Health Assembly, when a final version of […] Continue reading ->
On the eve of the final round of pandemic agreement negotiations ahead of the World Health Assembly (WHA), 30 legal experts have cautioned against using “voluntary” to describe technology transfer. The latest draft of the pandemic agreement (text agreed by end of 21 February) states that technology transfer for the production of pandemic-related health products […] Continue reading ->
Negotiators working to nail down the pandemic agreement have offered assurances that they can meet the May deadline – for the sake of global security and to restore faith in multilateralism. Despite only five formal days of talks remaining in April, Pakistan’s Umair Khalid said his country believes there is enough time to clinch the […] Continue reading ->
“It’s now or never,” World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyussus told the start of the 13th round of talks on a pandemic agreement on Monday morning. Five days of talks are scheduled this week with another five days scheduled in April. Thereafter, the plan is for an agreement to be presented […] Continue reading ->
Civil society groups have urged World Health Organization (WHO) member states to “continue to advance a pandemic agreement that can lay the essential groundwork for equitable, collective preparedness and response” ahead of the 13th meeting of the negotiating forum on Monday (17 February). Only 10 negotiating days are left until the World Health Assembly in […] Continue reading ->
Welcome to the fifth issue of the Governing Pandemics Snapshot. This issue provides critical insight into the past six months of negotiations over a World Health Organization (WHO) Pandemic Agreement, examining whether a meaningful agreement can be achieved this year. It addresses remaining contentious issues such as Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing (PABS) and One […] Continue reading ->
WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebryesus urged a ‘wait and see’ attitude Tuesday in his first public comments on US President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Robert F Kennedy Jr as Secretary of Health and Human Services – despite a flurry of fresh criticism by 77 Nobel Laureates over the controversial appointment. “It’s a transition […] Continue reading ->
There will be no pandemic agreement by year-end and, with only 10 days of formal talks set aside in 2025, some parties doubt whether an agreement can be reached by the May 2025 deadline. The week-long extended 12th meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) made progress, particularly on research and development (Article 9) and […] Continue reading ->
CAPE TOWN – Warning that the process of negotiating a pandemic agreement has days not months left, talks co-chair Precious Matsoso hopes that a deal will finally be clinched at the next meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) in early December. “We don’t have six months left to finish negotiations. We only have a […] Continue reading ->
The latest draft of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) pandemic agreement is awash with green highlights – an indication that countries have reached consensus on much of the text. But the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) announced on Monday that it would not be possible to reach an agreement by December – and countries would push […] Continue reading ->