A New Medical Countermeasures Platform for Equitable Access: Implications for On-Going Negotiations

Newsletter Edition #177 [News Flash - A GHF Exclusive]

Hi,

It is déjà vu of sorts.

WHO and partners, are working on a new Medical Countermeasures Platform for major health emergencies. Preliminary reading suggests more like a rewiring the ACT Accelerator - a superstructure pulled together for the international response to COVID-19. There are some differences in ACT-A 2.0 [our shorthand for this new platform], steered by G20 some big developing countries seem to be on board.

Even as WHO member states gather to negotiate amendments to the IHR this week, high-level representatives from a few countries will be in Johannesburg this week, discussing the new platform for medical countermeasures.

At the moment, it is unclear what such a platform can mean for on-going negotiations in Geneva, where among other priorities, the access to medical products in a cornerstone of current discussions.

This carving out of forums away from WHO is not new or unfamiliar. But has been gathering at a definitive pace with irrevocable consequences. [Recall the performance of the COVAX Facility.]

As I reported this story, I was reminded about recent discussions in the decolonization of global health. Representation alone will not matter, if it is not accompanied with effective decision-making powers.

(It feels like yesterday, when we first reported on the ACT-A in May 2020. And we also remember being shouted down for being critical of such approaches. See What does the EU’s pledging event on May 4th, to fight COVID-19 actually mean for global health? )

Write to us with your thoughts on these changes in global health.

Keeping a close watch on these fast-paced developments, requires time, resources and unlimited dedication. Help us keep up by subscribing to us or consider a donation.

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Until next week!

Best,

Priti

Feel free to write to us: patnaik.reporting@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter: @filesgeneva

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STORY OF THE WEEK

A New Medical Countermeasures Platform for Equitable Access: Implications for On-Going Negotiations

WHO backed by key donors, is steering a new Medical Countermeasures Platform to ensure equitable access during pandemics and major epidemics. In collaboration with a few countries, the private sector, foundations, and some  global health agencies, WHO’s new proposed platform appears to be a recast of the ACT Accelerator, albeit with a few key developing countries on its side.

Later this week, countries including the EU, US, Norway, Canada, Japan, India, Rwanda, Botswana, among others, will meet in Johannesburg, South Africa on February 23 – 24. This technical meeting is being called: “Building consensus for an equitable and sustainable medical countermeasures platform for the next pandemic.”

WHO has reportedly been consulting with select stakeholders on this model and now envisions to have such a platform working by September 2023. It is unclear how this parallel mechanism will fit in with on-going negotiations in the Working Group to amend the IHR, and in a new Pandemic Accord, both of which currently feature provisions to address equitable access to medical products.

Such a proposed model immediately raises questions on the centrality of both these negotiations [IHR & Pandemic Accord], that have all 194 WHO member states around the table. The proposed model is similar to the ACT Accelerator with stakeholders [the private sector, foundations and other global health agencies] are expected to have a decisive role in the governance of this mechanism. These stakeholders, however, do not have a formal role in the governing processes at WHO.

At this point, given the early stages of the IHR and INB negotiations, it is not clear whether such stakeholders will have an effective role to play in the governance of future health emergencies. But having a dedicated medical countermeasures platform, where such stakeholders could have decision-making powers, could alter the dynamics of the current negotiations.

In this story we examine the proposed mechanism, based on a concept note, and related documents, that detail this model. The documents discussing the new platform have been seen by Geneva Health Files.