Date: 10/09/2022

Relevance: GS-2: Bilateral, Regional, and Global Groupings and Agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.

Key Phrases: COVID-19, World Health Assembly, Global Pandemic Treaty, The World Together, Article 19 of the WHO Constitution, Widespread health inequity, Risk of another health crisis, Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), Monopolies by pharma majors.

Why in News?

• An estimated 18 million people may have died from COVID-19, according to various credible estimates, a scale of loss not seen since the Second World War.
• With over 120 million people pushed into extreme poverty, and a massive global recession, no single government or institution has been able to address this emergency single-handedly. This has given us a larger perspective of how nobody is safe until everybody is safe.

What is the pandemic treaty?

• In December 2021, the World Health Assembly agreed to start a global process to draft the pandemic treaty.
• The need for an updated set of rules was felt after the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the shortcomings of global health systems.
• The Health Assembly adopted a decision titled “The World Together” at its second special session since it was founded in 1948.
• Under the decision, the health organization established an Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) to draft and negotiate the contents of the pandemic treaty in compliance with Article 19 of the WHO Constitution.
• The pandemic treaty is expected to cover aspects like data sharing and genome sequencing of emerging viruses and equitable distribution of vaccines and drugs and related research throughout the world.
• The underlying logic is that as global governance had failed during the pandemic, the world needed political commitment to mitigate future challenges.

What is Article 19 of the WHO Constitution?

• Article 19 of the WHO Constitution gives the World Health Assembly the authority to adopt conventions or agreements on matters of health. A two-thirds majority is needed to adopt such conventions or agreements.
• The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control was set up under Article 19 and it came into force in 2005.

Need for Global Pandemic Treaty:

• Widespread health inequity:
  • Health-care systems have been stretched beyond their capacity and gross health inequity has been observed in the distribution of vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics across the world.
• Risk of another health crisis:
  • With the World Health Organization (WHO) having declared the monkeypox outbreak as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) with over 32,000 cases from over 80 countries (August 2022), the world faces the risk of another health crisis.
• Socioeconomic consequences:
  • While high-income economies are still recovering from the after-effects, the socioeconomic consequences of the novel coronavirus pandemic are irreversible in low and low-middle-income countries.
• Monopolies by pharma majors:
  • The monopolies held by pharma majors such as Pfizer, BioNTech, and Moderna created at least nine new billionaires since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and made over $1,000 a second in profits, even as fewer of their vaccines reached people in low-income countries.
• Poor vaccination in low-income countries:
  • As of March 2022, only 3% of people in low-income countries had been vaccinated with at least one dose, compared to 60.18% in high-income countries.
  • The international target to vaccinate 70% of the world’s population against COVID-19 by mid-2022 was missed because poorer countries were at the “back of the queue” when vaccines were rolled out.
  • Most countries have followed the “me-first” approach which is not an effective way to deal with a global pandemic.
• Lack of precautions:
  • Even six to eight weeks after the PHEIC declaration, countries, except for Asia, did not take the requisite precautions.

India’s lead role:

• India’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and reinstating global equity by leveraging its own potential has set an example to legislators worldwide.
• India produces nearly 60% of the world’s vaccines and is said to account for 60%-80% of the United Nations’ annual vaccine procurement - “vaccine diplomacy” or “Vaccine Maitri” with a commitment against health inequity.
• India was unfettered in its resolve to continue the shipment of vaccines and other diagnostics even when it was experiencing a vaccine shortage for domestic use.
• As of 2021, India shipped 594.35 lakh doses of ‘Made-in-India’ COVID-19 vaccines to 72 countries — a classic example of global cooperation.
• Among these, 81.25 lakh doses were gifts, 339.67 lakh doses were commercially distributed, and 173.43 lakh doses were delivered via the Covax program under the aegis of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
• The long tussle with the pharma majors over vaccine patents, especially in the African countries, held back the global vaccination drive.
• India stood as a global leader, moving a proposal with South Africa in October 2020 to ask the World Trade Organization (WTO) ‘to allow all countries to choose to neither grant nor enforce patents and other intellectual property related to COVID-19 drugs, vaccines, diagnostics and other technologies for the duration of the pandemic until global herd immunity is achieved.’
• Even though this proposal was stonewalled by some of the leading countries, the WTO finally decided to water down intellectual property restrictions in manufacturing COVID-19 vaccines after rigorous efforts.

The path ahead:

• In the COVID-19 pandemic, the world has seen a multitude of initiatives to address the pandemic and to do better in the future such as the Vaccine Alliance.
• These are all valuable, but a treaty under the umbrella of WHO would build coherence and avoid fragmentation.
• Such a treaty should cover crucial aspects such as data sharing and genome sequencing of emerging viruses.
• It should formally commit governments and parliaments to implement an early warning system and a properly funded rapid response mechanism.
• It should mobilize nation states to agree on a set of common metrics that are related to health investments and a return on those investments. These investments should aim to reduce the public-private sector gap.
• A global pandemic treaty will not only reduce socioeconomic inequalities across nation states but also enhance global pandemic preparedness for future health emergencies. India must take the lead in this.

Source: The Hindu

Mains Question:

Q. "The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the deep cracks in global health systems." In light of the statement, critically evaluate the need for a "Global Pandemic Treaty" to be better prepared for any similar disasters in the future.