The World Health Organization finally takes its agreement after more than three years of negotiations. This Wednesday, member countries approved by consensus a historic text aimed at better preparing and fighting against future pandemics.
“Tonight marks an important step in our common trip to a safer world,” said OMS director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, to delegates. “You have written the story” with this draft agreement which will be examined at the next World Health Assembly in May.
“Multilateralism is very lively”
It took a last day and night of negotiation, before the entire text was validated. “We topped at 1:58 am,” said a delegate, while the WHO prepared champagne. This demonstrates “that multilateralism is alive,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Five years after the arrival of the COVID-19, its millions of deaths and a devastated world economy, the agreement must make it possible to better prepare the world, far from being equipped to face another pandemic, according to WHO and experts.
Nevertheless advanced negotiations had advanced more slowly than expected Tuesday, after three days of break, driving mainly to the end on the transfer of technology for the production of health products related to pandemics, in particular for the benefit of developing countries. The subject had been at the heart of the many grievances in the most disadvantaged countries during the COVVI-19, when they saw the rich countries grabbed the doses of vaccine and other tests.
Negotiations without the United States
Several countries, where the pharmaceutical industry weighs heavily in the economy, are opposed to the idea of obligation of transfer and insist on its voluntary nature. A consensus finally emerged around the principle of technology transfer “agreed by mutual agreement”. Considered one of the central parts of the text, the latter also provides for the creation of a “system of access to pathogens and benefits of advantages” (Pabs in English), namely health products arising from their use, such as vaccines or tests for example. The text also aims to expand access to these products by establishing a global network of supply and logistics chain.
Our health file
The WHO chief came to join the negotiators at the end of the day on Tuesday, and took the opportunity to address the press. For him the text is “balanced” and brings “more equity”. Above all, he urged not to lose sight of the essentials: “the cost of inaction is much higher” because “the virus is the worst enemy, it could be worse than a war”. But, even in the face of this observation, the United States was absent from the negotiations, Donald Trump having decided that they were leaving the organization. It remains to be seen now how it will affect the agreement.
