Follow the link below to see the article in Science:
Key global bioethics guidelines get ‘dramatic’ update | Science | AAAS
Caesar is also part of a working group convened by the WHO Ethics and Governance Unit to think about how the WHO can actively contribute to more equitable access to pandemic products during health emergencies. The commentary: “Equitable access to pandemic products demands stronger public governance” was published online in the Lancet on 24 October 2024. It’s the result of almost 2 years of work and suggests that in the absence of legal authority, the WHO could still do more by becoming a convener and demanding ethical forms of engagement on the part of all stakeholders. The abstract for the commentary appears below and access to the full paper is through the Lancet.
Equitable access to pandemic products demands stronger public governance.
The slow arrival of vaccines to the increasing number of countries ravaged by mpox shows that the COVID-19 pandemic did not result in the structural change needed to address global inequities. The absence of global arrangements to ensure access to health products during emergencies is a gap that governments are seeking to fill through recently agreed amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR) and continuing negotiations towards a Pandemic Agreement. Pending the outcome of intergovernmental negotiations, WHO created the interim Medical Countermeasures Network (i-MCM-Net) as a temporary measure to coordinate the rapid development of and equitable access to pandemic products. As the global health community debates what longer-term mechanism should follow i-MCM-Net, substantial disagreement remains on governance, particularly the role of WHO. We argue that governments are primarily and collectively responsible for ensuring equitable access to essential health products and should mandate WHO with a more robust role in relation to states and non-state actors.
Full article (Lancet registration required): Equitable access to pandemic products demands stronger public governance - The Lancet