3rd Working Group on strengthening WHO preparedness and response to health emergencies - EU Statement

Honourable chair,

Thank you for giving me the floor. I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

I would like to first thank the bureau for organizing the Deep Dive session last week. The insights of the experts and the secretariat were enlightening, and we thank the Member states for actively engaging in the discussion.

It seems that we are reaching greater clarity with regards to the changes needed to ensure adequate preparedness and response capabilities to health emergencies, under the lead of WHO. On one hand there is a need for strengthening IHR, including increasing clarity, accountability, compliance and modernizing provisions so as to make the IHR a tool fit for the 21st century. We welcome WHO for conducting a pilot phase of a periodic peer-review mechanism currently running on a voluntary basis that would ensure more transparency and follow-up to IHR implementation, cooperation, and compliance by all MS.)

However, it also became abundantly clear that the IHR, even if amended, will still have limitations. It is a good tool, serving its purpose well for the hundreds of health events that are notified on this basis every year, but achieving a meaningful, global change through merely focussing on changing IHR does not seem to be of “game-changing” nature given the need to prepare the world for new and future threats after this largest global crisis since many decades. If focussing purely on the IHR, this would require more than mere targeted amendments and could also divert the IHR from its purpose. 

In order to address the needed changes of global nature, the EU believes that a new international instrument would be an appropriate solution. Such a new instrument could feature:

-        Implementing a “One Health” Approach in national, regional, and global cooperation, which is relevant for prevention, preparedness and response and of the utmost importance for the prevention and management of zoonotic spillover; 

-        Ensuring equitable access to countermeasures, as well as increased international solidarity, which are still major failures of the global response to the current pandemic;

-        An arrangement for access and benefit sharing of pathogens to address the requirements of the Nagoya Protocol, including measures related to equitable access to medical countermeasures, data and sample sharing, that would further complement existing mechanism of information sharing.

-        Rapid risk assessment, alert and response

-        Access for health emergency workforce and global assistance to outbreak areas.

-        Methods of work for interagency cooperation and dialogue between the UN Family and Member States in times of pandemics;

-        Possible financial aspects for health emergency preparedness and response, building on and streamlining existing mechanisms.

-        A legal definition of “pandemic threat”, that would allow for clearer delineation and complementarity of the Agreement and IHR and would also define a trigger for the response measures.

A new agreement could also further leverage health systems strengthening, including verification of reported capacities, advocate for a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach. Human rights and equity should guide our collective actions.

We also do not consider the processes of establishing a new agreement and strengthening the IHR mutually exclusive, however we do recognize that clarity on the relationship between the instruments would be needed to avoid legal conflict, overlap and duplication. We stand ready to work with Member States and the Secretariat to mitigate these risks and ensure a coherent approach.

We also recognize the importance of including engaging with other governmental and non-governmental organizations in the process of developing an agreement, not only to make proper use of their knowledge and experience, but also to value their mandates and bridge any new agreement to the existing legal frameworks of these organizations. This would avoid overlap and duplication and build the strongest possible basis to prevent, prepare for and respond to the next pandemic.

Finally, we would like to better understand the expected timeline and how we can efficiently move forward while, dedicating enough time to allow for quality, yet swift decision making.

We are encouraged by the increasing number of member states showing the ambition to pursue the changes that are most needed, and not only the ones most reachable. We hope more will join.

Thank you.