The World Health Organization’s Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) recently released the “zero draft” of the pandemic treaty. The treaty aims to strengthen national and international preparedness against future pandemics and will be presented at the World Health Assembly in 2024. The draft was created based on the failure of the international community to show solidarity and equality in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Key Issues in the Zero Draft
Intellectual Property Rights The proposed treaty calls for the timely waiver of intellectual property rights to ensure fast-paced manufacturing and scaling of pandemic-related products.
Independent Monitoring Mechanism
Despite several commentaries on the conceptual zero-draft, the inclusion of an independent monitoring mechanism to ensure countries comply with the treaty remains missing.
Guiding Principles
The draft recognizes “common but differentiated responsibilities and capabilities in pandemic prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery of health systems” as one of its guiding principles.
Access to Pandemic-related Products
If and when a pandemic occurs, the parties must “take appropriate measures to support time-bound waivers of intellectual property rights that can accelerate or scale up manufacturing of pandemics-related products.”
Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing System (PABS)
The constitution of a PABS under the WHO is another key element of the draft. Genomic sequences of all pathogens with pandemic potential will be shared on an “equal footing” in the system and will be shared on a publicly accessible platform.
WHO Global Pandemic Supply Chain and Logistics Network
The WHO Global Pandemic Supply Chain and Logistics Network, detailed in the draft, has been touted as an “excellent starting point” by health policy analysts.
Strengthening Health Systems
The draft stresses the need to strengthen health systems to help realize the goal of universal health coverage. It also aims to address gender disparities in the healthcare workforce.
While experts have lauded the importance given to intellectual property rights, transparency, benefit sharing, and equity, it remains to be seen what version of these issues will eventually find its place in the final draft of the pandemic treaty. Some believe the draft “is unlikely to survive in its current form given the strong pharmaceutical lobby.”