INB 9: Final opportunity for States to agree on pandemic treaty?

Such an agreement is widely considered essential in order to avoid repeating the mistakes, gaffes, and miscalculations of the COVID-19 pandemic, which was marked by inequitable access to essential medicines and other health technologies and a misalignment of resources and priorities — a driving factor in many preventable deaths. [...] The current draft text of the agreement (dated 7th March 2024), which also happens to be the first official text-based negotiation document (with two months to go before the deadline!), contains provisions relating to general access to medicines in times of pandemics and addresses some of the most consequential issues involving PPR, such as the declaration of Public Health Emergency of Internation. [...] The text does recognise the importance of facilitating and respecting the use of TRIPS flexibilities and the need to guarantee public return on public investment, although there is no operational wording to back these principles into effective implementation. [...] Even relatively positive aspects of the draft, such as multiple references to equity, the commitment to promoting a One Health Approach to PPR, as well as the support for “transparent and public sharing of research inputs and outputs from research and development of government- funded pandemic-related products” (art. [...] Relatedly, the participation and involvement of civil society organisations in the INB process has been limited and curtailed by both the Bureau and Secretariat.