Last Monday (12), the United Nations General Assembly (UN) approved a political declaration on prevention, preparedness and response to pandemics. Despite not being binding on member countries, the document calls for greater cooperation in facing future health emergencies and was celebrated by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The text should have been adopted by consensus at a high-level meeting held on September 25, during the UN General Assembly, which was not possible due to objections from the United States (USA) and other countries.
The political declaration, released this week, had 153 votes in favor and only three against, from the USA, Israel and Argentina. New Zealand and Paraguay abstained.
An important point, however, remains unfinished: the annex to the WHO Pandemic Agreement, which provides a system for countries to share samples and genetic data, in addition to vaccines, treatments and diagnostics.
Negotiations ran into impasses between the interests of developing countries, the United States and high-income nations in Europe. Talks should resume in May next year, at the World Health Assembly.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus highlighted the importance of finalizing these negotiations, so that the Pandemic Agreement can be opened for signature by Member States and ratified as international law.
"The world has come a long way since Covid-19. We call on countries to now fulfill the commitments they made", he said.
Brazil
As a member of the UN, Brazil must respond to the organization's call for greater cooperation in facing future health emergencies. The country is still experiencing the consequences of serious errors made by the Public Authorities in conducting the response to the covid-19 pandemic.
According to experts, then-president Jair Bolsonaro's denialism and conflicts with health authorities weakened the consistency of prevention messages.
The country faced a shortage of testing supplies and laboratory limitations at the beginning of the crisis. Insufficient testing made it difficult to identify transmission chains and adopt early measures.
The final report of the CPI on the Pandemic pointed out the dissemination of treatments without proven efficacy and failures in federal management.
The CPI also denounced delays and problems in vaccine negotiations, in addition to the promotion of medicines with no proven efficacy against Covid-19.
Equity
The political declaration approved this week by UN members has, among its priorities, the improvement of monitoring systems, the expansion of local and regional production and research and development capacity and the guarantee of sustainable financing.
Member States also highlighted the urgent need to conclude negotiations on the annex, as a key component for the WHO Pandemic Agreement to help promote a more equitable, coordinated and effective global response to future pandemic threats.
Access to treatments
The Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing system (PABS), provided for in the agreement's annex, provides for participating pharmacists to provide the WHO with rapid access equivalent to 20% of their production in real time in the event of a new pandemic.
This includes safe, effective and quality vaccines, therapies and diagnostics for the pathogen causing the eventual pandemic emergency.
Distribution of these products to countries will be based on risk and public health needs, with special attention to the needs of developing countries.
