Countries Set Out Way Forward for Continued Negotiations on Global Agreement on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Response
Countries of the World Health Organization (WHO) have moved forward negotiations on a global accord on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, with a view to presenting a draft accord to the World Health Assembly in May 2024.
Ending yesterday, discussions on the draft pandemic accord took place during the five-day resumed session of the fifth meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB), which includes WHO’s 194 member countries.
Discussions were based on the text prepared by the Bureau of the INB and distributed to all WHO’s Member States in May 2023 (the “Bureau’s text”), first through an open plenary session where Member States and relevant stakeholders provided their general comments, followed by a closed session in the Drafting Group.
The Drafting Group discussed Chapter II, addressing Articles 9 (Research and development), 10 (Liability risk management), 11 (Co-development and transfer of technology and know-how), 12 (Access and benefit-sharing), 13 (Supply chain and logistics), and 14 (Regulatory strengthening), where participants engaged and exchanged views.
The sixth meeting of the INB will be held from 17–21 July 2023 and the Drafting Group will be invited to continue its work with consideration of the Bureau’s text, continuing with the remaining articles of Chapter II and thereafter Chapters III and I.
It was noted that a joint plenary session of the INB and the Working Group on Amendments to the International Health Regulations (WGIHR) would be held on the afternoon of 21 July and morning of 24 July 2023…
According to the process agreed by governments at a special session of the World Health Assembly in late 2021, negotiations on the draft pandemic accord will aim to produce a final draft for consideration in 2024.
SOURCE: World Health Organization
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