Fractured world unites for a pandemic treaty

Perhaps the absence of Trump-governed US in the negotiations created an accommodative atmosphere, but the US's decision to pull out will affect tech-sharing and pathogen surveillance

- K Srinath Reddy

On April 16, a new global public health treaty emerged after prolonged multilateral negotiations, among the member States of the World Health Organization (WHO). The Pandemic Treaty is the second global public health treaty steered by WHO. The first was the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), adopted in 2003. I was a member of the Indian delegation that won global acclaim for ensuring a strong FCTC, despite opposition from the US, Japan and Argentina, alongside hesitancy from some members of the European Union. It was clear then that economic interests around the tobacco trade often prevailed over widely proclaimed commitments to public health.

Similar prioritization of national trade interests marred negotiations on the Pandemic Treaty, which had been debating contested text over the past four years. The world recognized serious failures in the global response to the Covid-19 pandemic. A strong global treaty was envisaged, to carry global cooperation to firmer ground than slushy affirmations of solidarity during a crisis. The treaty was meant to be adopted in 2024 but negotiations extended till 2025 because countries disagreed on the text in vital areas.

Two contentious areas related to: (a) assurances of equitable global access to vaccines, drugs and technologies, and (b) pathogen sharing by countries that first discover dangerous microbes or their variants (for enabling other countries to produce tests, vaccines and drugs directed at them). High income countries (HICs) wished to protect the patents and profits of their pharmaceutical industries. Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) wanted to ensure that they had affordable access to vaccines and drugs produced against pathogens shared by them or validated through clinical trials conducted in their populations.