Equity Provisions in the IHR: A Race Against Time

Newsletter Edition #63 [Treaty Talks]

Hi,

“Seek, and ye shall find” - I am not sure this sermon holds true in global health negotiations.

During this week’s discussions on amending the International Health Regulations, developing countries tried relentlessly to keep the equity agenda on the table of the working group. They may have succeeded for now.

The second part of this sermon: “knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened…” (As an agnostic, I am skeptical about this.)

We will be tracking the end-game of these negotiations, to keep our readers up to speed.

IHR revisions are likely to be staid and narrow, developed countries do not have a lot of appetite for what they argue as expanding the scope of these rules.

Also, it is striking how crucial a role interpretation plays in reading “old texts”!

In case you missed it, our update from earlier in the week: Developing Countries Seek to Retain Equity Provisions in the Amendments to the IHR [WGIHR7 Update]

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Until later.

Best,

Priti

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

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Illustration Credit: Amy Clarke, Chembe Collaborative

I. STORY OF THE WEEK

Equity Provisions in the IHR: A Race Against Time

By Priti Patnaik & Tessa Jager

Nishant Sirohi contributed to this story

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The window of opportunity to insert binding commitments to decisively address equitable access to medical products during health emergencies is closing. The ability of developing countries to be able to ensure such obligations in the current revision of the International Health Regulations will depend on their willingness and tenacity to keep that window from shutting off, against the winds of commercial interests, process limitations and against the clock.

The tug of war between countries that want to expand the scope of IHR, and other countries and stakeholders who would rather keep the focus narrow, continued this week at the meeting of the working group for amending these rules.

This story brings you a wrap on some of the ongoing dynamics in these discussions. We spoke with numerous negotiators, civil society actors and other experts to put this together. See below, also an exclusive interview with Co-Chair of the Bureau, Ashley Bloomfield who shares his thoughts on the proceedings.

We describe both process matters in the negotiations this week, and a few substantive provisions that were discussed this week.

We present this story, in continuation with our earlier update this week, Developing Countries Seek to Retain Equity Provisions in the Amendments to the IHR [WGIHR7 Update]

Image credit: Photo by sum+it, Pexels