PVA Oxfam INB6 statement

Delivered by Dr Mohga Kamal-Yanni, Policy Co-Lead for the People’s Vaccine Alliance, at the sixth Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB6) meeting on 21st July 2023

Thank you I speak on behalf of Oxfam and People Vaccine Alliance.

As you negotiate the pandemic accord and the IHR review, you have a real opportunity to prevent death and suffering from happening again.

We support the interventions that highlighted equity as a central foundation for both instruments.

But we are concerned that, despite talking about equity, actual measures to ensure equitable and timely access may fall in the cracks between these 2 processes and the proposed MCM [medical countermeasures] platform, which does not tackle the fundamental basis for equitable access.

Equity cannot be achieved by good intentions only. It requires real, practical obligations on governments to ensure timely and equitable access, meaning that groups at the highest risks everywhere get priority for products at the beginning when supply is inadequate while supporting production in LMICs to increase global supply for all: rich and poor.

Real obligations must be clearly spelt out to:

1. Share products according to medical need not ability to pay.
2. Collaborate on R&D including in LMICs.
3. Share technology and knowhow.
4. Remove IP barriers- putting public health and the lives of people everywhere before commercial interest.
5. Invest in regional manufacturing long before pandemics strike.
6. Ensure benefit sharing with access to pathogens.
7. Allocate adequate financing for all of these.

These elements become obligations for all member states according to their capacities.

Oxfam and The People Vaccine Alliance urge you to make real commitments to equity beyond the good words.

Thank you.

For more information, or to arrange an interview, please contact: [email protected]