The World Health Assembly took one step forward in global efforts to create a new instrument for pandemic preparedness and response.
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The global body of member states approved a report from the Working Group on Preparedness and Response to Health Emergencies on Tuesday that includes priorities and proposed steps forward in creating the instrument and closing other gaps in health emergency prevention, preparedness, and response.
The Intergovernmental Negotiating Body, set up last December, is tasked with drafting and negotiating the instrument. In June, the body will meet to discuss this road map crafted by the working group. If in agreement, the INB will adopt the draft in July, with negotiations to follow. The draft was informed by a survey of member states, nonstate actors, and other stakeholders.
“It is now time to implement lessons learned, take the right actions, and not lose the political momentum for ambitious action,” a delegate from Germany said, adding that this is part of what “will constitute the legal cornerstones of a strengthened architecture of global health emergency preparedness and response.”
The WHA discussions revolved around a focus on equity, cooperation, sustainable financing, and strengthening local capacity.
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This included discussion around equitable access to health countermeasures during emergencies. The COVID-19 pandemic has been marred by higher-income countries hoarding health countermeasures, including vaccines, leaving lower-income countries scrambling to protect populations without the needed tools.
Country delegates spoke about the need to ramp up local manufacturing, with technology transfers, ease supply chain restraints, and create research hubs. They also called on strengthening capacity to share information on emergencies quickly, including genomic sequencing, as well as strengthening early alert systems.
A priority on a “One Health” approach was emphasized, which included coordination around the systems needed to quickly identify emerging zoonotic diseases. The countries also supported sustainable financing for WHO. On Tuesday, the World Health Assembly also adopted recommendations on sustainable financing that aim to increase the flexibility of the agency’s funding.
“We have experienced how costly it is to be merely responsive than being proactive,” a delegate from Fiji said.
These efforts are expected to go beyond pandemics, but also ramp up preparedness and response in other health emergencies and crises like the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance.
About the author
Sara Jervingsarajerving
Sara Jerving is a Senior Reporter at Devex, where she covers global health. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, VICE News, and Bloomberg News among others. Sara holds a master's degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism where she was a Lorana Sullivan fellow. She was a finalist for One World Media's Digital Media Award in 2021; a finalist for the Livingston Award for Young Journalists in 2018; and she was part of a VICE News Tonight on HBO team that received an Emmy nomination in 2018. She received the Philip Greer Memorial Award from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 2014.
