IHR Goes into Extra Time: Countries Make Definite Progress on the Amendments to the International Health Regulations, But Not Enough to Close a Deal [WG-IHR8]

Newsletter Edition #84 [Treaty Talks- IHR]

Hi,

WHO member states could have hardly sought better umpiring in the negotiations towards amending the International Health Regulations. But as sports fans know, even the best umpires cannot restrain competitive sides. And hence, we head into extra time.

This also shows that efficiency is not an insurance against realpolitik. As is the wont of WHO member states, they will take the time to get the best outcome to match their interests.

In today’s edition, we bring you key takeaways of the meeting of the Working Group to amend the IHR, that concluded last evening in Geneva.

I also take the opportunity to thank numerous diplomats, experts and stakeholders for setting aside time to speak with us, and to educate our readers on the nuances in these complex, closed-door processes.

Thank you for reading.

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Our gratitude to our subscribers who help us stay in the game!

We are on the ground next week as well, to track the final stretch of negotiations towards a new Pandemic Agreement.

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: WG-IHR8

IHR Goes into Extra Time: Countries Make Definite Progress on the Amendments to the International Health Regulations, But Not Enough to Close a Deal

By Priti Patnaik

Tessa Jager contributed to this story

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Negotiations on the International Health Regulations go down to the wire as countries were unable to complete the discussions at the end of the final meeting of the Working Group to amend the IHR, that concluded this week. Riding on a constructive approach and an overall positive momentum, countries made steady progress under the decisive leadership of co-chairs Abdullah Asiri and Ashley Bloomfield, but a few areas of contention remained as the clock ticked away towards the conclusion of the meeting on April 26, Friday.

The working group decided to buy additional time to conclude the negotiations and are expected to meet on May 16-17 to complete the process. More time is needed to reach consensus on key contentious matters including on technology transfer, a dedicated fund, governance of an implementation committee, among other areas, diplomatic sources said.

But such an outcome was not completely unexpected given the complexity and persistent divisions around these issues. Some countries, particularly in Africa, have long maintained that they would endorse the package of amendments to the IHR only when there is more clarity on the evolution of the process towards a new Pandemic Agreement under a separate track of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body.    

In an exclusive interview with us earlier this week, co-chairs described this update of the IHR (2005) as the most significant and have called it a real step change.

For the first time, there will be recognition of equity not only as a principle, but these revisions are poised to reflect equity in concrete obligations for State Parties and WHO. Countries also appeared to agree, in principle to have a financing framework to address IHR implementation more effectively – for the first time in the context of these rules, according to senior diplomats involved in the process. The set of amendments also seek to improve upon governance of the IHR by way of an implementation committee – although they are yet to reach an agreement on this.

The meeting also saw extensive discussion on the continuum of health emergencies ranging from the declaration of a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), leading to a pathway that would trigger a pandemic via the potential new Pandemic Agreement.

In this story we look at key, contentious provisions on equitable access of medical products and on financing – on which hinges the final deal on the IHR amendments. We review the Bureau’s revised proposed text on provisions 13 and 44. (These are from April 23). For this story, we spoke to numerous negotiators as discussions evolved during the meeting. We also analyse process and what this reveals.

Image Credit: Photo by Thanh Luu, Pexels