Dear Community, please find below this week's selected news. Remember, comments are always open so do not hesitate to share your opinion!
WHO declares end to COVID global health emergency (Reuters, May 8, 2023)
> The World Health Organization ended the global emergency status for COVID-19 on Friday more than three years after its original declaration, and said countries should now manage the virus that killed more than 6.9 million people along with other infectious diseases. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/covid-is-no…
WHO declares end to COVID-19’s emergency phase (Nature, May 5, 2023)
> The pandemic has been on a “downward trend” but the risk of new variants remains, WHO’s director-general says. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-01559-z
WHO’s Two Pandemic Negotiation Processes Prepare for Joint Meetings as Equity and IP Dominate Talks (Health Policy Watch, May 4, 2023)
> Equity and intellectual property (IP) rights are – unsurprisingly – the most important and trickiest issues facing countries negotiating the terms on which the next global pandemic will be addressed. This emerged at a World Health Organization (WHO) briefing on Thursday addressed by Precious Matsoso, co-chair of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) crafting a pandemic accord, and Dr Ashley Bloomfield, co-chair of the working group on amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR). https://healthpolicy-watch.news/whos-two-pandemic-negotiation-processes…
Countries urged to take more action against chemical pollution (UN News, May 1, 2023)
> Over 2,000 delegates from around the world gathered at the UN in Geneva on Monday to discuss how best to curb chemical pollution, which has had increasingly dire consequences for health and the environment. https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/05/1136242