Sweeping UK aid cuts have drastically reduced direct bilateral funding to African countries, posing a severe threat to the continent’s most fragile health systems. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) officials recently confirmed a steep 31% multi-year reduction of the foreign aid budget, shrinking overall spending from £13.7 billion to an estimated £9.2 billion by […] Continue reading ->
A snail would have a faster passage than the Pandemic Agreement talks currently underway in Geneva, according to a briefing on Wednesday by civil society observers – some of whom mooted the possibility of World Health Organization (WHO) member states voting on the outstanding annex to break the deadlock. Only one portion of a single […] Continue reading ->
Tension was palpable at the start of the sixth – and supposedly final – round of talks on an annex to the Pandemic Agreement, with the African region rejecting the latest draft PABS Annex text. Pakistan also asserted that an agreement on the Pathogen Access and Benefit-sharing (PABS) annex should not be rushed simply […] Continue reading ->
Final talks on the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) system, the last outstanding piece of the Pandemic Agreement, are being held in Geneva this week. The Pandemic Agreement, being negotiated in Geneva, emerged to address the unacceptable inequities that defined the COVID-19 global health disaster. During this pandemic, delayed and inequitable access to vaccines may […] Continue reading ->
There are only six negotiating days left to nail down the final piece of the Pandemic Agreement, but huge areas of disagreements still exist between World Health Organization (WHO) member states. The talks, which start on Monday, are set to go until 11pm each night at the WHO headquarters in Geneva – but this may […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) has welcomed the decision of the US states of California, Illinois, New York and New York City to join its Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN). GOARN is a global network of public health institutions, governments, academic bodies and laboratories that helps to detect and control infectious disease outbreaks […] Continue reading ->
Powerful member state blocs at the World Health Organization (WHO) stressed on Monday that they will not compromise on the final outstanding piece of the Pandemic Agreement simply to meet the May deadline. The Group of Equity and the WHO’s Africa, Eastern Mediterranean and South-East Asia regions stated that they wanted a Pathogen Access and […] Continue reading ->
Global pandemic preparedness is becoming “increasingly fragile at a time of growing biosecurity and geopolitical risk”, according to the International Pandemic Preparedness Secretariat (IPPS), which launched its Fifth Implementation Report of the 100 Days Mission on Tuesday. IPPS is an independent entity that promotes the “100 Days Mission”, the global ambition to develop safe, effective […] Continue reading ->
Only 12 more negotiating days remain until WHO member states hit the May 2026 deadline for an agreement on a Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing (PABS) system, as part of the new Pandemic Agreement adopted at last year’s World Health Assembly (WHA). The gap between developed and developing blocs of countries remains large, and progress […] Continue reading ->
The United States said Thursday that it had officially completed its withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO). But WHO member states are not obliged to accept the US departure as legally binding until it pays up on some $260.6 million in dues owed for 2024- and 2025, WHO’s Director General contends in a report […] Continue reading ->