PM calls for reforms in WHO to combat future pandemics

WASHINGTON: The World Health Organization (WHO) must be reformed, its approval processes for vaccines and therapeutics need to be streamlined and the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) rules on intellectual property need to be more flexible, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday, outlining key steps needed for a global response to future health emergencies and to ensure resilient supply chains and equitable access to vaccines.

Modi, speaking at the second Covid-19 global summit co-hosted by the US, said that the pandemic had continued to disrupt lives, supply chains and “test the resilience of open societies”.

He also spoke of India’s battle against the pandemic and its willingness to contribute to global common good with both supply of vaccines as well as sharing its expertise and institutional knowledge.

Suggesting reforms in the global governance multilateral architecture, PM Modi said, “WTO rules, particularly TRIPS (Trade-related Intellectual Property Rights), need to be more flexible. WHO must be reformed and strengthened to build a more resilient global health security architecture. We also call for streamlining WHO’S approval process for vaccines and therapeutics to keep supply chain predictable and stable. As a responsible member of the global community, India is ready to play a key role in these efforts.”

The PM’S comments come in the wake of WTO restrictions constraining more rapid production and equitable distribution of vaccines, WHO’S early track record in identifying and managing the pandemic coming under a scanner, and delays in WHO approvals for vaccines.

The summit took place on a day US president Joe Biden marked the “tragic milestone” of “one million American lives lost due to Covid-19” in a presidential proclamation, and the US announced a new set of financial and policy commitments to battle the pandemic and future health emergencies. Belize, Senegal, Indonesia and Germany co-hosted the summit.

The first global Covid-19 summit was held in September 2021.

Outlining India’s “people’s centric approach” to fighting Covid-19, PM Modi said that the government had made the highest ever allocation to the annual health budget.

“Our vaccination programme is the largest in the world. We have fully vaccinated almost 90% of adult population and more than 50 million children.”

Pointing out that India manufactured four Who-approved vaccines, the PM said India had the capacity to supply five billion vaccine doses this year. “We have also supplied 200 million vaccines to 98 countries both bilaterally and through COVAX.”

India, Modi said, also adopted low-cost Covid-19 mitigation technologies for testing, treatment, and data management and offered these capabilities to other countries, while India’s genomic consortium had contributed to the global database on virus.

The Prime Minister also spoke of the importance of traditional medicine in the battle against Covid.