Outline WHO agreement aims to avoid dispute over vaccines as in the pandemic

Governments may have to reserve drugs and vaccines for the World Health Organization (WHO) to distribute in the poorest countries to avoid a repeat of “catastrophic failure” during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to an initial draft of a pandemic deal. global.

One of the most concrete proposals in the draft agreement reviewed by the Reuters news agency on Wednesday (1st) includes a measure to reserve 20% of any tests, vaccines or treatments developed for use in poorer countries.

The draft also looks set to continue a long-running debate calling for the waiver of intellectual property rights during pandemics, which advocates say would allow wider access to life-saving drugs and vaccines more quickly. The pharmaceutical industry is against the measure.

The draft also retains previous provisions that could have required pharmaceutical companies to disclose details of any public procurement for vaccines and treatments during these global health emergencies.

The agreement, commonly known as the pandemic treaty, was worked out by WHO member states and will now go through a lengthy negotiation process before being finalized.

Negotiations on the draft treaty will begin on Feb. 27 and are expected to continue through 2024. Member states have agreed that the treaty will be legally binding on those who sign it, but it remains unclear how this will be enforced.

“It’s a once-in-a-generation chance to make a paradigm shift in protecting and improving the health of the world’s population,” says Fadela Chaib, WHO spokesperson, of the agreement.

The draft begins by saying it is being drafted “in recognition of the international community’s catastrophic failure to show solidarity and equity in response to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic”.