Countries trying to negotiate a global agreement on handling future pandemics began an extra week of talks Monday, with the WHO chief insisting the end was in sight.
The talks at the World Health Organization‘s headquarters in Geneva opened three years on from the decision to draft a new accord on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, taken in the heat of the Covid-19 crisis.
“You should be proud of what you have achieved in the past three years and you should also be confident that the end is in sight. It’s closer than you think,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told negotiators for the UN health agency’s 194 member states.
“I believe that you can finalise the pending issues before the end of this year,” he added.
Concluding an international agreement in little over three years would be exceptionally fast, given the typical glacial pace of striking treaties.
While countries agree on the broad scope of what they want, the fine details remain in contention.
“For the pandemic agreement to be meaningful, you need provisions of strong prevention, for continued preparedness, and for robust, resilient and equitable response,” warned Tedros.
“An imbalanced pandemic agreement is not an agreement.”
– Sense of urgency –
The one-week session was scheduled as an add-on to the 12th round of negotiations, which lasted from November 4 to 15.
Monday’s talks focused on research and development, sustainable financing, and transfer of technology and know-how for producing pandemic-related health products.
It also tackled the heart of the agreement: a proposed pathogen access and benefit-sharing system.
On Friday, countries will take stock and decide if they have made sufficient progress to call a special session of the World Health Assembly to adopt a finalised agreement.
A special session of the WHO’s top decision-making body takes 35 days to arrange.
The body is notably mindful of Donald Trump’s return to the US presidency on January 20.
Trump is hostile towards the WHO. In his first term, he began pulling the United States out of the organisation, accusing it of being a puppet of China.
Talks co-chair Precious Matsoso expressed hope that this week would “resolve most of the issues”.
Co-chair Anne-Claire Amprou called it a “crucial week for the advancement of our work”, and urged countries to work in a pragmatic, flexible and realistic manner.
“This is becoming urgent,” she added.
– ‘Get this done’ –
A key fault-line in the negotiations lies between Western nations with major pharmaceutical industry sectors, and poorer countries who do not want to be sidelined when the next pandemic strikes.
The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations said they wanted a pandemic agreement that enabled the private sector to innovate and respond effectively to future pandemics.
But UK-based charity Oxfam said countries were facing a critical question: “Do you want an agreement that seriously and practically protects the health and economy of everybody on the planet, or do you want to protect the financial health of pharmaceutical companies?”
The Panel for a Global Public Health Convention said the accord should serve as a baseline for action against pandemic threats, concluding: “We just urge you to keep it up and please get this done.”