Newsletter Edition #155 [Treaty Talks]
Readers,
What is symphony to some, is cacophony to others.
The negotiations on the Pathogen Access Benefit Sharing Mechanisms have registered intense activity by civil society groups, experts and others. Some resent it, others welcome it.
In this edition, we give you a flavor of the sustained advocacy by CSOs and the diversity of advice from relevant stakeholders on complex topics that define the terrain of these negotiations.
More from us in the coming days, as we delineate the technical from the political, and make every attempt to capture nuance.
The edition is being sent with some delay on account of chasing multiple conversations on how these closed door negotiations are progressing.
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Priti
Priti Patnaik, Founder & Publisher, Geneva Health Files
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Presenting our weekly in-depth analysis on global health that captures the big picture and the nuances like no one else does. This is an exclusive edition for our subscribers.
Civil Society Organizations Ratchet Up the Pressure in The Negotiations of the Pathogen Access Benefit Sharing System
WHO member states are in an unenviable situation, where they are trying to build a brand new mechanism on the Pathogen Access Benefit Sharing System. They are seeking to future proof a mechanism to make it workable during health emergencies in the context of vast technological changes now. Their current negotiations are also informed by existing practices of data flows, while being deeply circumscribed by lived experience of uneven development.
The empirical information feeding into these negotiations is represented by divided views and not always insulated from commercial considerations. But member states must think through the technicalities to get to the political prize of designing an instrument that delivers medical products to those who need it.
The statements by relevant stakeholders are important, and present an overall picture of the breadth of considerations that countries have to measure.