The eighth meeting of the International Negotiating Body (INB) for a WHO instrument on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response took place between 19th February to 1st March 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland.
The usual format for the meeting was followed – the opening and closing sessions were publicly webcast with all other sessions held in private. The publicly available sessions can be watched here.
Plenary Session – 19th February
The Director General of the WHO, Tedros Ghebreyesus, addressed the delegation and focused on “misinformation” and “disinformation” in relation to sovereignty and the “Pandemic Treaty” stating, “this is a negotiation between us, between countries, for countries and will be implemented by countries based on your own national law…”
The Agenda and Programme of Work were adopted and the vice-chairs of the sub groups gave updates on their particular clauses (the ambassador of Japan, supported by Tanzania and the UK, commented on Articles 4, 5 and 6) after which the floor was opened to Member States and relevant stakeholders to give their “immediate reactions to the summary”.
It is evident that equity remains a material concern for the developing countries with many feeling that little to no progress has been made in this regard.
The UK delegate commented on the technical nature of the “Pandemic Treaty” stating, “many of the issues we are discussing are deeply technical and their successful implementation will require the involvement of a wider set of stakeholders across the United Nations, civil society and the private sector and we welcome the involvement of the groups today.”
GAVI continued to push vaccines stating, “we recommend Member States to, first, explicitly recognise routine immunisations as a fundamental intervention for reducing pandemic risks that prevent outbreaks before they become pandemics…” and “…second, retain the 20% suggested pandemic related product allocation for lower income countries…”
Plenary Session 1st March
The INB considered the draft report of the meeting. The same was published on 11th March and can be read here.
The INB asked the Bureau to produce a revised draft of the negotiating text of the WHO Pandemic Agreement for consideration by the INB at its ninth meeting. This document was published on 13th March 2024 and can be read here.
The eighth session of the INB was formally closed.
Summary
The WHO Pandemic Agreement has nothing to do with health of the people and everything to do with public private partnerships (as illustrated clearly by the comment from the UK delegate) resulting in the merger of government regulation with corporate power and the profiteering from “pandemics”. Otherwise known as “fascism”.
Next Steps
The ninth meeting of the INB will be held for 18th – 28th March 2024.
