NGOs have long denounced lower-income countries’ inequitable access to COVID-19 vaccines and treatments. But the zero draft of the pandemic accord released Wednesday is giving them some hope that this may change in the next pandemic.
Several of them were pleased to see support for intellectual property waivers, as well as transparency and access conditions over publicly funded medical products.
“The several conditions on R&D and procurement contracts echo what many have been calling for, and really they hit on the core issues of concern,” James Love, director of Knowledge Ecology International, told Devex.