1. Why in news
1.1. Members of the World Health Organisation (WHO) held the first round of negotiations towards the pandemic treaty.
1.1.1. In December 2021, the World Health Assembly (WHA) agreed to start a global process to draft the pandemic treaty.
1.1.2. World Health Assembly
1.1.2.1. Decision making body of WHO
1.1.2.2. Functions
1.1.2.2.1. to determine the policies of the Organization,
1.1.2.2.2. appoint the DirectorGeneral,
1.1.2.2.3. supervise financial policies
1.1.2.2.4. review and approve the proposed program budget.
1.1.2.3. The Health Assembly is held annually in Geneva, Switzerland.
1.1.3. Article 19 of WHO Constitution
1.1.3.1. It gives the World Health Assembly the authority to adopt conventions or agreements on matters of health.
1.1.3.1.1. A two-third majority is needed to adopt such conventions or agreements.
2. About Proposed Treaty
2.1. Main goal
2.1.1. to foster an all-of-government and all-of-society approach, strengthening national, regional, and global capacities and resilience to future pandemics.
2.2. It is expected to cover aspects like
2.2.1. data sharing and genome sequencing of emerging viruses
2.2.2. equitable distribution of vaccines and drugs and related research throughout the world.
2.3. European Union (EU) also wants a ban on wildlife markets to be included in the treaty.
2.4. While the EU wants the treaty to be legally binding, the U.S., Brazil and India have expressed reservations about the same.
3. Need for a Pandemic Treaty
3.1. Strengthen capacities:
3.1.1. would enable countries to strengthen national, regional, and global capacities and resilience to future pandemics.
3.2. Structure the necessary collective action
3.2.1. It would set out the objectives and fundamental principles in order to structure the necessary collective action to fight pandemics.
3.3. To Ensure higher, sustained and long-term political engagement at the level of world leaders of states or governments.
3.4. Define clear processes and tasks.
3.5. Enhance long-term public and privatesector support at all levels
3.6. Foster integration of health matters across all relevant policy area
3.7. It would support and focus on:
3.7.1. Early detection and prevention of pandemics.
3.7.2. Resilience to future pandemics.
3.7.3. Response to any future pandemics, in particular by ensuring universal and equitable access to medical solutions, such as vaccines, medicines and diagnostics.
3.7.4. A stronger international health framework with the WHO as the coordinating authority on global health matters
3.7.5. One Health" approach, connecting the health of humans, animals and our planet.
4. Concerns raised against the proposed pandemic treaty
4.1. It lacks focus, clarity, and coherence on what issues countries should prioritize
4.1.1. among surveillance, outbreak notification, the sharing of genetic sequence information, trade and travel measures etc) in a treaty and why.
4.2. It distracts from the demands for better access to vaccines and treatments,
4.2.1. instead tries to create a narrative that a lack of rules prevented the world from mounting an effective international response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
4.3. Most of the provisions that the proposed treaty look forward to including in the proposed pandemic treaty, are available under the International Health Regulations (IHR). There is a need for effective implementations of those provisions.
4.3.1. About International Health Regulations (IHR)
4.3.1.1. IHR are an instrument of international law that is legally-binding on 196 countries, including the 194 WHO Member States.
4.3.1.2. IHR provide an overarching legal framework that defines countries’ rights and obligations in handling public health events and emergencies that have the potential to cross borders.
4.3.1.3. They create rights and obligations for countries, including the requirement to report public health events.
4.3.1.4. It also outlines the criteria to determine whether a particular event constitutes a “public health emergency of international concern”.