World Health Organization director urges countries to reach agreement to protect against future pandemics

 

From Geneva, the director-general of the World Health Organization on Friday urged countries negotiating a text on protecting against and preventing future pandemics to reach an agreement, days before a deadline for its adoption.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told negotiators gathered at United Nations headquarters: "I know that the process has been difficult and arduous at times, and that it is not yet over. I know that you have all been forced to make concessions that you did not want to make."

WHO countries have been working on a draft international treaty for two years and began marathon negotiations on Monday, hoping to reach a consensus by May 10 at the latest.

Each of the 37 points in the draft agreement will be discussed in turn, and negotiators will be divided into working groups to reach consensus.

After five days of negotiations, Tedros acknowledged that differences remain, but stressed that positions appear to be closer than before.

He said, "I recognize that there may be delegations that, despite their commendable efforts, are unable to reach consensus, but they have a choice. They can choose not to block the agreement."

Tedros asked the diplomats, "Give yourselves something to be proud of.

He added, "Give the people of the world, the people of your countries, and the people you represent a safer future, so I have only one request: Please do this for them."

The negotiations aim to finalize a text for adoption at the World Assembly of WHO countries, which begins on 27 May.

The binding text should enable preparations for any future pandemic the world may face, and the poorest countries stress the importance of "fairness.

The main disagreements center on equitable access to discovered pathogens, access to products to combat the pandemic, such as vaccines developed on the basis of these discoveries, and equitable distribution of tests, treatments and vaccines against the pandemic, as well as the means to produce them.

The co-chair of the negotiations, Precious Matsuso, said in a press conference on Friday that "countries are beginning to find common ground.

She warned that while there had been "significant progress" in discussions on some points of the draft text, "time is running out".

As the memory of the millions of victims of the COVID-19 pandemic and the suffering and severe economic damage it caused fades, so does the sense of urgency.

The new project focuses on the points of agreement in an attempt to reach the necessary consensus, leaving the task of deciding on some thorny issues for future discussions over the next two years.

The co-chair of the negotiations, Roland Dris, believed that, as in all similar discussions, the issues would be resolved as the deadline approached.

The Dutch diplomat confirmed: "We are convinced that we will reach a good result by the end of the week.

However, NGOs following the negotiations were less optimistic.

K. M. Gopakumar, a researcher with the Third World Network, told AFP: "We have seen optimism among the co-chairs, but on the other hand there is skepticism from various countries.

He explained: "There are still unanswered questions. Nothing concrete has been presented on fair access. And on funding? Silence."

He urged developing countries to consider the extent to which the text will change the current unsatisfactory situation in terms of equitable access to vaccines, tests and medicines.

Yuanqiong Hu of Médecins Sans Frontières said that many issues of concern to her NGO, such as health workers, research and development, and technology transfer to developing countries, were still the subject of in-depth discussions in working groups.

"It seems that some of the most contentious issues are still causing controversy," she told AFP.