INB4 Meeting Statement

Delivered at the INB4 meeting on 28th February 2023. We have also submitted further detailed comments to the secretariat.

Oxfam and the People’s Vaccine Alliance consider the INB process as an opportunity for WHO members to negotiate and agree on a pathway to keeping the world safe from pandemics. This, however, will not be accomplished through a business-as-usual model. It can only be delivered through a transformative agenda.

Medical technologies related to pathogens with pandemic potential must be treated as global common goods – be available to all who need them at the same time. Therefore, sharing technology and knowledge and investing in R&D and manufacturing capacity in LMICs is a global responsibility.

Global common goods must take precedence over private commercial interests. The Pandemic Accord should therefore include a commitment by member states to waive intellectual property rules on medical technologies relevant to such pathogens.

Investing in one country’s public health system not only protects its citizens from outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics but also helps protect citizens of other countries. There is no security – neither national nor global – without effective public health systems around the world.

Financing pandemic preparedness and response is the backbone of the successful development and production of medical technologies and of sustaining health systems. We urge the negotiators to consider innovative financing for these functions, especially a globally implemented financial transaction tax.
We wish you all the best in your deliberations.

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Media contact

Joe Karp-Sawey, Senior Media Advisor, People’s Vaccine Alliance

[email protected]