Agenda Item 21.1 Global strategies and plans of action that are scheduled to expire within one year
Thank you chair,
At a time when inequity in access to health technologies demonstrate the shortcomings of the current biomedical research model, the Global strategy and plan of action on public health, innovation and intellectual property (GSPOA) remains a work in progress. A painfully unfulfilled promise during a fully-fledged pandemic.
We welcome the commitment of WHO to improve research capacity and promote technology transfer and commend those governments and public entities supporting the growth of C-TAP. We note positively the critical role played by the Medicines Patent Pool in the global response to COVID-19.
In this moment, when Member States are poised to negotiate a new instrument to respond to pandemics, it is of critical importance to fulfil previous commitments, especially when doing so would reinforce national capacities for prevention and response to medical emergencies.