Reacción a "WHO member states approve pandemic treaty"

The support given yesterday to the pandemic agreement at the World Health Assembly is undoubtedly a very positive sign. However, it marks only the beginning of a crucial phase – and also the most complex to negotiate – without which the agreement will have very limited impact: the creation of the access and benefit-sharing system (PABS). This system will be decisive in determining whether the agreement can truly establish a new model of equitable distribution in the face of future pandemics. Until now, access to essential vaccines, medicines and diagnostics has been hampered by deep inequalities that prevent much of the world from accessing them in an affordable and timely manner.

This phase of negotiations will not be resolved in a few days, but will take many months of work. It is therefore essential to continue moving forward now, both at regional and national level, incorporating the most progressive elements of the final agreed text. In the case of Spain, the Draft Medicines Bill and the announced Global Health Strategy are two instruments where these advances in access should begin to take shape and give form to the commitment made during these years of negotiation. At the European level, both the pharmaceutical package and the R&D funding programmes represent real opportunities to begin translating these commitments into concrete measures.