Stakeholders discuss WHO pandemic treaty

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health held a stakeholder event on 11 March to discuss the pandemic treaty that is currently being negotiated under the World Health Organization (WHO). The aim of the treaty is to strengthen international preparedness for pandemics and other public health emergencies. 

The negotiations on the pandemic treaty have been going on since 2022. Finland participates in the negotiations as part of the European Union, which forms the common positions for the negotiations. The Finnish delegation for the negotiations consists of representatives from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare. Parliament has been kept informed throughout the negotiations, and it takes part in forming Finland’s positions for the negotiations. 

In addition to the delegation, the stakeholder event was attended by Doctors Without Borders, the Finnish Red Cross, the Finnish Federation for Social Affairs and Health (SOSTE), the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela) and the Tampere University, among others.

Aiming for a fast flow of public health emergency information between countries 

“Although progress on the negotiations has been slow, a lot has been agreed. There are still some outstanding general policy issues and matters of principle that need to be resolved during the next round of negotiations in April, which is supposed to be the final round,” says Senior Ministerial Adviser for International Affairs Outi Kuivasniemi, who chairs the Finnish delegation. 

One of the key issues concerning the pandemic treaty is a Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) mechanism. The mechanism is about making sure countries share information on pathogens so that medical countermeasures can be developed against them and distributed to countries that need them. This is essential for managing pandemics. 

“The aim is to ensure the fastest possible flow of information between countries when it comes to public health emergencies of international concern. Information sharing is the key to being able to develop medicines. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, China shared the genetic sequence data of the virus causing COVID-19, which helped to quickly develop diagnostics and vaccines,” says Research Professor Hannu Kiviranta from the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare. 

Treaty to include no new financial obligations

The negotiations on the pandemic treaty are closely linked to a broader discussion on global justice amid pandemics. Particularly the Global South sees the pandemic treaty as a way of ensuring justice between countries. There are no plans to include new binding financial obligations in the treaty. Instead, the intention is to make use of the existing financing mechanisms, such as the Pandemic Fund hosted by the World Bank. 

“In the negotiations, Finland has highlighted, among other things, the importance of gender equality and the fact that references to international humanitarian law should be coherent. The aim is to reach an agreement that is in line with international law,” says Senior Specialist Pasi Mustonen from Finland’s Permanent Mission in Geneva. 

The pandemic treaty is to be adopted at the World Health Assembly in May 2025. Every effort will be made to reach a decision by consensus. This means that, as a rule, all Member States would have to approve the decision on the pandemic treaty. After the World Health Assembly has adopted the pandemic treaty, each WHO Member State will discuss and decide on its commitment to the treaty in accordance with its constitution.

Inquiries:

Outi Kuivasniemi, Senior Ministerial Adviser, International Affairs, tel. +358 295 163 117
Jenna Uusitalo, Legal Adviser, tel. +358 295 163 110
firstname.lastname(at)gov.fi