Hi,

Forum-shopping is where countries and stakeholders make efforts to get their interests addressed across policy spheres. We also see intra-forum shopping.

Today’s story encapsulates such efforts. Technology transfer in public health has been highly contentious. This week at the WHO Executive Board, countries clashed on the terms of technology transfer in the context of a report on anti-microbial resistance. In the story we also briefly recall the negotiations on this during the Pandemic Agreement in April 2025.

(Also find below the GHF jobs board flagging open positions in the field.)

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Best,

Priti

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I. UPDATE EB158

Developing Countries Get More Time to Negotiate Language on Technology Transfer To Fight Anti-Microbial Resistance

By Bianca Carvalho & Priti Patnaik

At the 158th meeting of the WHO Executive Board Meeting, the draft text of the Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) became contentious with a debate over the language on the terms of technology transfer to improve access to medical products, and innovation, in the fight against anti-microbial resistance. Developing countries contested references to Voluntary and Mutually Agreed Terms (VMAT) in the text and have sought more time for negotiations until the World Health Assembly (WHA).