After three years of witnessing inequitable access to medicines and vaccines and policy failures to address COVID-19, there’s finally some hope: The pandemic accord zero draft, produced by an intergovernmental negotiating body established by the World Health Assembly, lays out support for intellectual property waivers, as well as transparency and conditions to ensure global access to publicly funded medical products.
But while advocates are celebrating the win, implementation and compliance will be key.
The draft proposes that the World Health Organization will have access to 20% of the world’s pandemic response products such as diagnostics, vaccines, personal protective equipment, and therapeutics “to enable equitable distribution.” Half of that should be in the form of donations and the other half offered at an affordable price to WHO.