Indonesia Monitors Pandemic Treaty Negotiations to Anticipate Future Diseases

Jakarta: The Covid-19 pandemic rocked the world from 2020 to 2022, and its impact is still being felt today. In anticipation of a similar health crisis in the future, two important negotiations are underway at the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland.
 
The two negotiations revolved around the pandemic treaty and amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR).
 
The Pandemic Treaty has the official name "a convention, agreement or other international instrument under the Constitution of the WHO to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness and response” or often abbreviated as CA+ (CA Plus).

The main aim of the pandemic treaty and also the IHR amendments is to ensure preparedness and handling of the next pandemic more fairly.
 
"It is important to have a mechanism to prevent and anticipate future pandemics at the state and global level. During the Covid-19 pandemic, there was no such mechanism," said the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Indonesia to the United Nations and International Organizations in Geneva, Ambassador Febrian A. Ruddyard at the virtual Media Gathering 'Update from Geneva', Tuesday, October 3 2023.
 
The Covid-19 pandemic is considered to have provided valuable lessons regarding the importance of the principle of equity, or fair access to health products such as vaccines, medicines and therapeutics, as well as diagnostic tools.
 
From the start, Indonesia has championed vaccines as a global public good and that all countries must have equitable access to safe vaccines
at an affordable price.

Access fairness

During the pandemic, Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi was active as one of the Co-Chairs of the COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC) Engagement Group together with the Minister of Health of Ethiopia and the Minister of Canadian Development Cooperation.
 
Febrian said the Pandemic Treaty and amendments to the IHR are targeted for completion in May 2024. Both are expected to produce instruments and mechanisms that can transform and strengthen pandemic preparedness, prevention and response (PPPR) efforts by member countries, WHO and other stakeholders at all levels.
 
"Indonesia has and will continue to play a key role in negotiations on these two instruments in the health sector," said Ambassador Febrian.
 
"So far, Indonesia has been fighting for the issue of fair access which is also a real interest of developing countries in the field," he continued.
 
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