A treaty under the umbrella of the World Health Organization would build coherence and prevent fragmentation
A treaty under the umbrella of the World Health Organization would build coherence and prevent fragmentation
COVID-19 It will be counted among some of the most serious pandemics the world has seen in the last 100 years. According to various credible estimates, an estimated 18 million people could die from COVID-19, a scale of damage not seen since the Second World War. Furthermore, over 120 million people have been pushed into extreme poverty, and with a massive global recession, no government or institution has been able to deal with this emergency alone. It has given us a bigger perspective on how no one is safe until everyone is safe.
wide health disparity
Health care systems have been stretched beyond their capacity and there is a gross health disparity in the delivery of vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics around the world. Now, the World Health Organization (WHO) has Monkeypox outbreak declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) With over 32,000 cases from over 80 countries (August 2022), the world faces the risk of another health crisis.
While high-income economies are still recovering from the aftereffects, the socioeconomic consequences of the novel coronavirus pandemic in low- and lower-middle-income countries are irreversible. The monopolies of pharma companies such as Pfizer, BioNtech and Moderna have created at least nine new billionaires and made more than $1,000 a second in profits since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, even as their vaccines are available to low-income earners. Reach people too. Country. As of March 2022, only 3% of people in low-income countries had been vaccinated with at least one dose, compared to 60.18% in high-income countries. Missed the international target of vaccinating 70% of the world’s population against COVID-19 by mid-2022 because poor countries were “at the back of the queue” when vaccines were introduced.
Even six to eight weeks after the PHEIC announcement, countries, except in Asia, did not take the required precautions. Similarly, when world leaders pledged €7.4 billion ($8.07 billion) in a digital fundraiser to develop a coronavirus vaccine and treatment, the United States did not send any representatives, thus, disparity also dictated the course of the pandemic. dragging long. And, it is against this background that the creation of a Global Epidemic Treaty was proposed in the special session of the World Health Assembly (WHASS). The underlying logic was that as global governance had failed during the pandemic, we needed a political commitment to mitigate future challenges.
India’s main role
India’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and leveraging its potential to restore global equity has set an example for legislators across the world. India produces about 60% of the world’s vaccines and is said to account for 60%-80% of the UN’s annual vaccine purchases – a “vaccine diplomacy” or “vaccine friendship” with a commitment against health inequality.
India was autocratic in its resolve to continue shipments of vaccines and other diagnostics even when facing a shortage of vaccines for domestic use. There was a period of only a few weeks during the peak of the second wave in India when the vaccine mission was put on hold. By 2021, India has shipped 594.35 lakh doses of ‘Made-in-India’ COVID-19 vaccines to 72 countries – a classic example of global cooperation. Of these, 81.25 lakh doses were gifts, 339.67 lakh doses were distributed commercially and 173.43 lakh doses were distributed through the COVAX program under the aegis of Gavi, Vaccine Alliance. In addition, prolonged conflicts with pharma chiefs over vaccine patents, especially in African countries, stalled the global vaccination campaign. But India stood out as a global leader, taking a resolution with South Africa in October 2020 asking the World Trade Organization (WTO) to neither grant nor grant patents and other intellectual property related to COVID-19 drugs to all countries. was asked for permission to apply. Vaccines, diagnostics and other technologies for the duration of the pandemic until global herd immunity is achieved. Even though the proposal was blocked by some major countries, it was only in June 2022 that the World Trade Organization, after strenuous efforts, decided to ease intellectual property restrictions in the manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines.
Lesson learned, way ahead
In the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen several initiatives to address the pandemic and do better in the future, such as the Vaccine Alliance. All of these are valuable, but a treaty would be under the WHO umbrella, as highlighted by the magazine bmj, build consistency and avoid fragmentation. For example, as a document by the University of Groningen, between high-income countries and low- and middle-income countries, the difference between the number of reported cases as of the end of March 2021 was relatively similar (65.3 and 61.2 million, respectively), high-income countries shared an average of 16.5-fold more sequences per reported case (1.81% and 0.11%, respectively).
Thus, as mentioned in bmjSuch a treaty should include important aspects such as data sharing and genome sequencing of emerging viruses. It should formally commit governments and parliaments to implement an early warning system and an appropriately funded rapid response mechanism.
In addition, it should prompt nation states to agree on a set of common metrics related to health investments and the return on those investments. These investments should be aimed at bridging the public-private sector gap.
Ultimately, a global pandemic treaty would not only reduce socioeconomic inequalities across nation states but would also enhance global pandemic preparedness for future health emergencies. India should play a leading role in this.
Amar Patnaik is a Rajya Sabha MP from Odisha, former Principal Accountant General and presently Advocate.