This statement to the second meeting of the the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body to draft and negotiate a WHO convention, agreement or other international instrument on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response was delivered by Senior Policy Advisor, Jaume Vidal, Monday 18 July 2022.
Health Action international is pleased to address this second meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB). We welcome the working draft, which has been made available for this meeting, and appreciate the efforts undertaken by the Bureau to compile contributions in a coherent way.
We remain convinced that equity, transparency and inclusion must be guiding principles in the drafting negotiation and implementation of any international pandemic response.
Mentions of the use of TRIPS flexibilities in the preamble of the document seem to be at odds with a narrower interpretation further along the document. We must stress the importance of placing health needs above intellectual property requirements when responding to pandemics and other health emergencies.
Finally, we commend the fact that discussions and proceedings of this meeting are available to follow via a webcast, and therefore also available for a wider audience. We ask that this openness extends to the whole range of topics being discussed.
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