Alongside the 76th World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva, MSF Access Campaign hosted a hybrid event on May 24, 2023, to discuss the current WHO negotiations on a new accord setting global norms and mechanisms for pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.
Any new pandemic accord must be based on past and present experiences of global public health emergencies. Ebola virus disease is one such example. After nearly half a century without any treatments, two recently approved treatments were made possible thanks to an unprecedented global collaborative effort by a wide range of stakeholders, including patients and frontline health workers. Yet, decisions related to access and affordability are currently left only to the private corporations holding intellectual-property rights, and to the goodwill of these corporations and select national governments.
The event discussed access challenges around the two new Ebola treatments, including R&D priority setting, access to products, price setting, access and benefit sharing, management of intellectual property and data, regulatory authorisation, and emergency stockpiling, with recommendations on policy interventions and actions from different stakeholders to ensure access for people affected by Ebola the most.
To learn more about access issues on the current Ebola therapeutics access, please read our report “Ensuring Access to New Treatments for Ebola Virus Disease”.
