Coronavirus (1403) Nature: World commits to a pandemic response pact: what's next

2 December, 2021

Extracts below and a comment from me below. Read online:

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Following a failure to rein in COVID, world leaders begin shaping an accord to prevent future disasters — one that holds them accountable.

As researchers scrambled this week to learn more about Omicron, the latest SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus variant of concern, world leaders met to negotiate a way of ensuring that a crisis on the scale of the COVID-19 pandemic never happens again. Initially on the table was a legally-binding pandemic treaty that would dictate how nations should respond to future outbreaks. A fuzzier form of that proposal is now moving forward, to be sharpened in the months and years to come...

“The failures have been colossal and systemic — we are living in a broken world,” says Stephen Morrison, director of global health policy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC. “What better a time to try to get something going that addresses the fundamental problems?”...

The biggest decision made at the assembly is to collectively develop an accord, agreement or other ‘new instrument’ to govern pandemic response, including ensuring the equitable distribution of diagnostics, drugs and vaccines...

A treaty would be a prime way to ensure the equitable distribution of vaccines and other medical countermeasures, such as protective equipment and diagnostic tests...

The WHO announced that an international group of health officials will now start hashing out the details. By 1 August [2022], this group will have a draft of its proposal, including a term to describe what precisely the pact will be.

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COMMENT (NPW): I do not have all the details, but the approach above appears to be addressing only some aspects of pandemic resilience and preparedness. Equitable distribution of diagnostics, drugs and vaccines is of course vital, but much, much more is needed. Most importantly we need concerted action to ensure that every person worldwide has access to reliable healthcare information and that they are protected from misinformation. HIFA is committed to advace this agenda as described in our Strategy 2022-2024. https://www.hifa.org/news/press-release-healthcare-information-all-hifa-...

Neil Pakenham-Walsh, HIFA Coordinator, neil@hifa.org www.hifa.org