Upcoming Event: Towards more Cooperation and Equity in Global Health? A New International Treaty on Pandemic Prevention

On Thursday, 15 December, the Development and Peace Foundation will host a digital policy lunch from 12:30-13:45 (CET) with Prof. Dr. Anna Holzscheiter. The event will focus on how an international treaty on pandemic prevention can contribute to greater equity and solidarity in the global health system while strengthening the principles of liability and accountability.

The COVID-19 pandemic strengthened existing inequalities and inequities both within but also between countries, and it also created new ones. As the world is likely to experience more pandemics in the future, it was decided to develop an international agreement for pandemic prevention, which could put into place ‘a comprehensive and coherent approach to strengthen the global health architecture’. The agreement is expected to enter into force in 2024.

In a four-page long Policy Brief, Prof Dr Holzscheiter provides a more detailed overview of the current state and context of negotiations. In particular, she highlights three highly relevant aspects: the scarcity of binding international law in the field of global health, including legal and institutional fragmentation and complexity; geopolitical dynamics and power struggles; and concerns over equity and global justice. These parameters, she argues, create both promises and pitfalls for what may or may not become a new international instrument to address future pandemics.

Prof. Dr. Anna Holzscheiter will discuss this together with Dr. Americo Beviglia Zampetti, from the Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations in Geneva, and Dr. Remco von de Pas, Senior Research Associate at the Centre for Planetary Health (CPHP) and Lecturer in Global Health at ITM Antwerp.

The event will be held in English. More information about the event can be found here.