Member states have been given nine days to comment on the ‘Zero draft of the Political Declaration on Pandemic Preparedness and Response, due to be adopted at the United Nations (UN) High-Level Meeting (HLM) on 20 September – with insiders describing the draft as “underwhelming”. The HLM is essential for boosting waning political commitment to […] Continue reading ->
 GENEVA – Global health conversations are much deeper at present because everyone has been affected by COVID-19 – and this opens up the possibility of building an “all-of-society” approach before the next pandemic, said Sylvie Brand, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Director of Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness and Prevention. “We have seen during this pandemic […] Continue reading ->
A new “Zero+” version of a proposed World Health Organization pandemic accord being negotiated by member states has dropped previously strong language that conditioned use of public R&D funds to private sector commitments to price transparency and tech transfer of end products, among other measuress. However, the updated draft text, obtained by Health Policy Watch, […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Assembly opened its annual meeting of member states Sunday on a celebratory note marking the 75th anniversary of the World Health Organization’s foundation in 1948. Eradicating smallpox, eliminating polio in most countries worldwide, and dramatic reductions in deaths from once-deadly childhood diseases preventable by clean water, basic medicines and vaccines are among […] Continue reading ->
Civil society is unlikely to be included in the World Health Organization (WHO)’s pandemic accord negotiations and should focus on making an impact on its content, according to a  European Union official. “I don’t see these rules.. changing very easily at this stage. So I would concentrate efforts in working on the substance more than […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) has ended the global health emergency for mpox, marking the end of a 10-month juggling act by the UN health agency as it scrambled to deal with concurrent global pandemics.  The announcement arrives just days after WHO declared the end of the global health emergency for COVID-19 last Friday, three […] Continue reading ->
The global response to COVID-19 failed people in developing countries, women and health workers and must never be repeated, non-state actors told a meeting hosted by the United Nations (UN) in New York on Tuesday. The UN convened the four-hour multi-stakeholder meeting on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response (PPPR) in preparation for a High-Level Meeting […] Continue reading ->
The United Nations (UN) is hosting three multi-stakeholder meetings in New York on Monday and Tuesday on tuberculosis, pandemic prevention, preparedness and response (PPPR) and universal health coverage (UHC). They are aimed at getting the views of non-state actors in preparation for UN High-Level meetings in September, starting with pandemic preparedness on 20 September, followed […] Continue reading ->
Equity and intellectual property (IP) rights are – unsurprisingly – the most important and trickiest issues facing countries negotiating the terms on which the next global pandemic will be addressed. This emerged at a World Health Organization (WHO) briefing on Thursday addressed by Precious Matsoso, co-chair of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) crafting a pandemic […] Continue reading ->