After three years of negotiations and a final marathon of almost twenty -four hours, the WHO Member countries have reached apreliminary understanding To strengthen the global response to future health crises. The document does not provide for any generalized taxation on vaccination obligationsleaving governments full decision -making autonomy in internal health matters. At the center of the agreement are the sharing of biological data, fair access to drugs and vaccines, the role of technologies, and the definition of common rules that respect the different national skills.
The details of the draft that will be discussed in May
The draft will be examined on May 19 during the WHO General Assembly. Inside there are General principles and operating passagesfrom the times of sharing health data to the accessibility of medical products. After a whole night of negotiations, the delegates closed with a preliminary agreement, not without leaving some aftermath. The agreement was defined just a few hours ago and unanimously approved by the member countries. It remains to be overcome the last kilometer: the formal ratification scheduled during the World Healthcare Assembly in May.
The text also arises from the desire (and political need) of do not repeat the errors performed during the Covid-19 pandemic. Five years later, while old and new threats, from the H5n1 virus to the empox, to the ebola outbreaks and measles, the agreement aims to equip the global system of more robust tools and less improvised procedures. The document, divided into 32 pagesis based on three keywords:
- equity;
- transparency;
- cooperation.
Each measure must rest on solid and verifiable scientific evidence.
How the new system for biological data will work
Among the key points of the agreement it emerges The creation of the so -called Pabsa system designed to facilitate the exchange of biological data between governments and companies in the pharmaceutical sector. This tool was designed to accelerate the development of medical countermeasures in case of new infectious threats.
The comparison on this issue has aroused heated debates, in particular by the less industrialized countries, which feared to remain excluded from the distribution of treatments and diagnostic tools. The agreed mechanism, on the other hand, provides for the commitment to the quick sharing of the data and a more equitable distribution of the benefits deriving.
Drugs and vaccines: the new rules for a more right distribution
According to the agreed text, producers should allocate a share of the treatments developed starting from the data shared to the health agency. 20% of the supplies must be made available, with at least half in the form of donations and the remaining part sold at calm costs. The adhesion to this initiative will have a voluntary character, also for companies based in countries that do not formally adhere to the organization.
During the negotiations, the request, especially by the Latin American countries, of facilitate the transfer of health technologies. This point proved to be among the most divisive, with resistance by economically stronger states and with interests in the pharmaceutical sector, which push to maintain the optional nature of this sharing.
Global logistics networks and health supply: what changes
In the new pact it has not been inserted no obligation to transfer industrial knowledgebut the collaboration between states in this direction is encouraged. The agreement also introduces the idea of an international network for the distribution of essential health goods, which should guide supplies according to the priority needs of public health.
Paragraph 11 of the document, dedicated precisely to the transfer of technologies, was among the most controversial passages. The question had already been a reason for clash during the health crisis from Covid-19, when the countries with minor resources denounced the muddy of vaccines by the richest nations.
Sovereignty of states and prevention plans: key points
The text maintains the principle of national sovereignty, leaving individual governments the freedom to manage internal measures, including any interventions related to mobility or vaccinations. Each state will be called to adopt, according to its economic possibilities, of structured plans to strengthen response skills to health crises. These plans should include initiatives in the vaccination field, control of high -risk workshops, contrast to the antibiotic resistance and prevention of the jump of species in infectious diseases.
