Hi,
Barely a fortnight into the new year, the world is already facing a fresh set of policy challenges, even as governments and authorities were struggling with the legacy problems of 2020. Some countries have, of course, turned this into an opportunity. But many others have been left behind.
It is in this context, when each day is important, that the WHO’s board meets next week. Today, we bring you a quick snapshot of some of the key items on the agenda of WHO’s Executive Board which meets next week. Member states are undoubtedly likely to ask questions on the access to COVID-19 vaccines. And why not, especially if you are the receiving end of the chasms of inequality, as South Africa described in a painful yet eloquent manner at the WTO.
The last time WHO’s Board met, a more meaningful role for this governing body was sought. Next week we will find out if Board members made any progress on this account.
Apart from the big governance questions looming in Geneva, WHO has more immediate questions to answer. Read below about the series of appeals asking countries to support the COVAX Facility.
In other news, we are pleased to participate in a panel discussion later this week on What reform agenda for the WHO Executive Board?, organized by the Geneva Global Health Hub. Tune in!
Watch out for our story of the week, later on Friday this week.
Best,
Priti
Feel free to write to us: patnaik.reporting@gmail.com or genevahealthfiles@protonmail.com; Follow us on Twitter: @filesgeneva
I. W.H.O. EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING: EB 148
We spent some time parsing through these documents for you.
Some key items which will be discussed at the meeting next week is highlighted here. Documents can be accessed here. A Preliminary daily timetable has been published by WHO.
Image credit: Photo by Oleg Magni from Pexels
On special procedures: the virtual nature of the meeting
“…the light of the current epidemiological situation, the Members of the Board agreed through a written silence procedure that the 148th session of the Executive Board would take place virtually, using video conference technology.”
COVID-19 response: Report by the Director-General
This is an important technical update on WHO’s response to the pandemic. Its activities are truly staggering, from coordinating countries’ responses, to gathering epidemiological intelligence; from issuing over 800 technical products on surveillance, laboratory testing and best practices, infection prevention and control, and clinical management to points of entry and international travel and essential commodities, to working on supply chains and procurement matters; from organizing massive clinical trials to fighting the infodemic.
WHO has delivered on the technical front, but critics believe that it has dragged its feet on steering the politically tough discussions. The important aspects on why the equitable access to vaccines have failed so far, are conspicuous by their absence in this document, for example.
Some civil society stakeholders have called this much-awaited report only a “technical” update without more details. It is understood that a comprehensive report will be made available soon.
This document combines a number of different complex issues, on treatments for cancer (originally a proposal from South Africa), on rare and orphan diseases (a proposal from Peru), and the issue of transparency (the implementing resolution from WHA72.8 2019)
In a recent post Knowledge Ecology International has critiqued, why this document does not address issues issues first raised by South Africa and Peru in their original proposals.
The public health implications of implementation of the Nagoya Protocol
The document provides information on “current pathogen-sharing practices and arrangements, the implementation of access and benefit-sharing measures, as well as the potential public health outcomes and other implications.” It discusses the cooperation across countries in sharing the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the SARS-CoV-2 genetic sequence data, and the WHO COVID-19 Reference Laboratory Network.
A riveting read, takes you through the labyrinth of the science, economics and the legal mechanisms of pathogens-sharing.
Global strategy and plan of action on public health, innovation and intellectual property
An update by the secretariat to the Board, that informs us of informal consultations of Member States on 3 December 2020 which discussed issues on transparency in costs of R&D, on expenditure on R&D by member states, on transparency of medicines prices and actions to prevent shortages, among other issues. Also includes an update on the implementation plan on the actions to be carried out by the WHO Secretariat, drawing on the road map for access to medicines, vaccines and other health products, 2019–2023.
Draft Proposed programme budget 2022–2023
A 100+ page document which gives a glimpse on the potential direction that the financing of WHO may take in the coming months.. Emergencies and health security seem to have an overwhelming emphasis here.
The 2022–2023 Draft Proposed programme budget sees a 19% jump in the size of the budget to US$ 4.47 billion (including COVID-19 lessons learned accounting for nearly US$ 275 million; a huge bump for digital health strategy at US$147 million; while science and research functions are projected to get only US$ 32.2 million. Other new overheads include WHO Academy and WHO Regional Office for Europe transformation. See page 14 for more.)
Scale of assessments 2022–2023
WHO says the latest available United Nations scale of assessments was adopted in December 2018 for the period 2019–2021. WHO has applied the United Nations scale of assessment for 2020–2021. This shows a small increase in the contributions that countries will need to pay to WHO.
Engagement with non-State actors
We found this interesting:
“The COVID-19 pandemic has also prompted a substantial increase in requests for engagement with non-State actors, including private sector entities. In addition to the expected increase in requests from actors in the health sector, many actors outside the public health sector have also approached WHO regarding potential engagement. Given that an effective response to COVID-19 requires cross-sectoral action, this increase in requests has had the benefit of bringing new entities to the global public health space, including entities involved in information and communications technology, artificial intelligence, digital applications and the financial services sector. To ensure that engagements are considered on a level playing field and do not confer a competitive advantage or privilege, or constitute an endorsement, and consistent application of the Framework’s provisions and procedures has been emphasized.”
Process for the election of the Director-General of the World Health Organization: Note by the Legal Counsel
The ball is set to roll for the nomination for the next director-general, starting April 2021.
Gives you the breadth of WHO’s work.
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II. WHAT WE FOUND INTERESTING
NEWS:
The infighting points to a high-stakes game where powers are seeking to pre-emptively counter future influence of the United States, which could rejoin the body under President-elect Joe Biden, Marc Limon of the Universal Rights Group think-tank said.
“Neither China nor Russia want a human rights-friendly country to hold the presidency in a year where the U.S. will probably re-engage with the council,” he said.”
WHO’s push for COVAX: Too little, too late?
Last week:
WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the Member States briefing on COVID-19 - 7 January 2021: WHO press release
“One year on since WHO issued its first Disease Outbreak News (DON) about this virus, 42 countries have started vaccinating their high-risk populations with various COVID-19 vaccines.
Of the 42, 36 are high-income and six are upper middle-income countries.
This is clearly a problem and this problem is getting worse because some countries are pursuing new deals outside of COVAX offering higher prices.”
We have to take action to address this.
190 countries and economies committed to the COVAX Facility and we expect all stakeholders to ensure vaccines are distributed as swiftly and equitably as possible to all countries
We have a collective responsibility to make this a reality.
History will not judge us kindly if we fail the low- and middle-income countries in their hour of need and sharing is in the best interest of each and every country.
We can only recover faster as a global community by sharing.
This week
WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19 – 11 January 2021: WHO press release
Next week at the WHO Executive Board, I will be encouraging all countries to fulfill their pledges to COVAX.
I call for a collective commitment so that within the next 100 days, vaccination for health workers and those at high-risk in all countries are underway.
Governments, manufacturers, civil society, religious and community leaders must come together to create the greatest mass mobilization in history for equitable vaccination.
WHO continues to ask vaccine manufacturers from around the world to move swiftly to provide the necessary data that will allow us to consider them for emergency use listings.
Israel rebuffs WHO vaccine request for Palestinian medics, amid outcry over disparity: Independent.co.uk
An eye-opening story on the state of play in the Israel-Palestine conflict where even health workers and citizens are not spared. Also highlights what is at stake for vulnerable populations awaiting vaccines from Gavi’s COVAX Facility.
“Health officials within the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority (PA) told The Independent they had lodged a similar request, asking Israel to sell them 10,000 jabs for their medics in order to avert a health disaster during the month-long wait for vaccines from the WHO’s Covax programme and vaccine companies.”
How Nine Covid-19 Vaccines Work: New York Times Interactive
Science meets illustration. A great visual story.
FROM THE JOURNALS:
Understanding geopolitical determinants of health: WHO Bulletin
(See: WHO Leads in Using Solid Science to Draft COVID-19 Policy: Study: The Scientist)
III. WHAT WE ARE WATCHING
WHO’s R&D Blueprint group is convening scientists from around the world to set global research priorities for the year ahead, including on virus variants and sequencing.
WHO PROGRAMME, BUDGET AND ADMINISTRATION (PBAC) 13–15 January 2021
IV. TWEET THIS WEEK
Max Roser: Data to understand the big global problems and research that helps to make progress against them. • @UniOfOxford researcher • @OurWorldInData founder
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