A group of non-governmental organisations organised a side event to the World Health Assembly to discuss the growing issue of antimicrobial resistance, the way to incentivise research and development for new antibiotics, and the imperative of affordability and accessibility of new products. The speakers mentioned alternative models, such as delinking the cost of research from the price of the medicines, underlined the high prices of vaccines, and the importance of systems of infection prevention and control. Continue reading ->
What is the WHO Director-General election? The Director-General is WHO’s chief technical and administrative officer. Member States elect the next Director-General through a formal process led by the WHO Executive Board and the World Health Assembly. The current term ends on 15 August 2027; the next Director-General is due to take office on 16 August […] Continue reading ->
Following the statutory WHO nomination deadline for the next Director-General, six candidates have now been publicly declared on the agency’s prospective candidate page. While oncologist Dr Gevorg Tamamyan has been proposed in a cross-regional nomination by Botswana, sources with knowledge of the process said Gavi CEO Dr Sania Nishtar was reportedly not nominated by Pakistan. […] Continue reading ->
Spain has officially submitted Dr María Neira’s nomination for the WHO Director-General election ahead of Thursday’s statutory deadline, sources close to the matter told Health Policy Watch. The submission expands the candidate pool by introducing a focus on primary prevention and climate-related health risks to the race. Before Neira’s nomination, a coalition representing over 100 […] Continue reading ->
Contracts, contracts, contracts. Virtually all the regional blocs that addressed the start of the eighth round of the pandemic agreement talks on Monday stressed that any pathogen access and benefit-sharing (PABS) system needs to include standard contracts with pharmaceutical manufacturers. These would set out the terms of accessing dangerous pathogens, as well as how to […] Continue reading ->
EU negotiator Americo Zampetti warns that ideological polarisation over pathogen access threatens to derail the WHO Pandemic Agreement. On the eve of the eighth round of talks on an annex to the Pandemic Agreement, the European Union’s (EU) chief negotiator has warned that “ideology” is blocking consensus. Negotiators meet at the Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) […] Continue reading ->