Statement to the Eighth Meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB 8) on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response, delivered by Senior Policy Advisor, Jaume Vidal.

Thank you co-chair,

Health Action International (HAI) is pleased to be able to share our reaction to the texts relating to pandemic agreement having been made available just recently. We commend the efforts of the INB Bureau as well as the co-facilitators of the different drafting sub-groups.

We will focus our comments on Article 9 and 10.

Affordable and sustainable R&D is critical for an effective and equitable response to the next pandemic. We welcome the acknowledgement of the need for enhancing access to innovative health technologies and ensuring that data from clinical trials is properly reported and compiled.

We believe however that stronger, meaningful wording is still missing regarding the management of intellectual property rights in times of pandemic and health emergencies: patents cannot and should not be absolute nor limit the ability of governments to protect and promote public health.

Reaching a consensus on a number of issues that have proven to be contentious in the past was always going to be challenge and the efforts made to date by most parties to reach workable document are laudable. However, we feel obliged to express our concern that we are heading towards an outcome that would not meet the expectations, needs and hopes entrusted in this process.

Finally, we must insist once again on the need for greater transparency and  accountability of this negotiating process, particularly regarding undue influence of private actors. 

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Download PDF of INB 8 Statement.