Category: News
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Resources on Pandemic Treaty
The 13th session of the INB closed on 21 Feb 2024. See report of INB13 here. See also, courtesy of Health Policy Watch, the status of the draft treaty at the beginning of INB13, here. Useful sites for following the development of the draft treaty: INB Index page; HPW Pandemic Treaty Collection; Medicines, Law and…
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As Trump pauses enforcement of an anti-bribery law, will pharma engage in bad behavior?
Ed Silverman in Stat+, 12 Feb 2025 Between 2011 and 2020, 10 of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies paid a combined $1.34 billion in fines to the U.S. government for bribing foreign officials in order to boost purchases of their medicines. The law that made it possible is the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which has…
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Technology transfer in global health – A Post-Pandemic Reckoning for WHO Member States
Deep dive by Priti Patnaik and Nishant Sirohi in Geneva Health Files 13 Feb 2025 Obligations on technology transfer have been one of the most difficult discussions in the ongoing negotiations towards a Pandemic Agreement at the World Health Organization. The topic is charged, and has a chequered history in international development across many forums.…
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The Lancet Commission on Transforming Primary Health Care in the Post-COVID-19 Era
William Chi-Wai Wong, Vivian Lin, Xiaoxuan Fang, Michael Kidd on behalf of the Lancet Commission on Transforming Primary Health Care in the Post-COVID-19 Era. From The Lancet 15 Feb 2025 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(25)00198-9 Primary health care (PHC) was established as a global priority in the 1978 Alma-Ata Declaration. Four decades later, the 2018 Astana Declaration reaffirmed the call for universal health coverage for all…
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Brics summit to tackle AI governance, global health and financial reform: Brazil
Note from bloc’s chair this year reflects plan to promote equitable global governance rather than control by ‘just big corporations’ (From Igor Patrick, SCMP, 14 Feb 2025) The next annual Brics summit will take up artificial intelligence governance, global health cooperation and financial reform, according to a “concept note” on Thursday from Brazil, the bloc’s chair this year. Brazil will…
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South Centre Inputs on “Zero Draft Terms of Reference for a UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation
Following the release of the Bureau’s Proposal for Zero Draft Terms of Reference (ToR) for a United Nations Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation and the call for written comments on the Zero Draft ToR, the South Centre has provided its inputs on various structural, substantive and procedural elements of the Zero Draft ToR (20…
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Promotion of inclusive and effective international tax cooperation at the United Nations
On 22 December 2023, the General Assembly adopted resolution 78/230, “Promotion of inclusive and effective international tax cooperation at the United Nations.” The resolution establishes an ad hoc intergovernmental Committee mandated to develop draft terms of reference for a United Nations framework convention on international tax cooperation, with a view to finalizing the Committee’s work by August…
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Finishing the Job of Global Tax Cooperation
By Jose Antonio Ocampo for Project Syndicate on 29 April 2024 Given the many loopholes and opportunities for tax arbitrage in today’s global economy, much closer international cooperation will be needed to ensure that multinational corporations and the world’s wealthiest people pay their fair share. Negotiations for this purpose are now underway, but developed countries…
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Colombia takes significant next step to expand people’s access to affordable HIV treatment, and moves forward with compulsory license for HIV medicine dolutegravir
MSF Bogotá/Geneva, 6 February 2024 – On Friday, the government of Colombia took a historic step towards issuing its first-ever compulsory license (CL) to overcome patent barriers to HIV treatment and import less expensive generic versions of the HIV medicine dolutegravir without permission from the patent owner, ViiV Healthcare (a joint venture of GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer and Shionogi). The…
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IPEF: New cold war weapon backfires
Ong Kar Jin and Jomo Kwame Sundaram, 15 November 2023. Originally published by IPS News and also on NetworkIdeas. / / US President Joe Biden’s Indo-Pacific Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) is the economic arm of his administration’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, aimed at countering China’s influence in the region. Despite its lofty pronounced goals, IPEF’s shortcomings expose…
