8^th February 2023, Cape Town - The World Health Organization (WHO) has published its latest draft of the “Pandemic Treaty”, which aims to be the first international legally binding agreement designed to protect the world from future pandemics in the light of COVID-19.

The document was published and sent out to the 194 Member States of the WHO ahead of the next meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) taking place later this month.

FOUR PAWS, the global animal welfare organisation, said that it “lacked teeth” and much more is needed to be done in future drafts regarding tackling the root causes especially on animal welfare issues, which were the driver of COVID-19.

Leading scientists have concluded in various reports that it was simply not plausible that COVID-19 was introduced to the Wuhan market in any way other than through the wild animal trade.

Nina Jamal, FOUR PAWS´ Head of Pandemics, said: “As it stands the current zero draft will not protect us from the next pandemic. It lacks teeth to ensure that we all take the right steps to prevent a potential global outbreak from happening to begin with. What we are seeing with the spread of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza is that time is not on our side. The Pandemic Treaty must be bold and rigorous when it comes to setting effective preventive measures, compliance and implementation.

“FOUR PAWS believes the zero draft does not go far enough on equity or on preventing pathogens from jumping from animals to humans. Governments championing equity must ask for more than just vaccines and technology. If they are serious about equity, they must develop One Health strategies and ask for support in protecting their vulnerable communities by enabling them to prevent outbreaks, not just respond to them. There is no equity for the most vulnerable communities at the Human-Animal-Environment interface after an outbreak because they would have already suffered.

“But there is a foundation to build upon, especially on the inclusion of tackling both the legal and illegal wildlife trade as a driver of disease emergence, which would be an effective measure to prevent the spread at an early onset. And One Health should be treated as a pillar of the agreement, instead of limiting it to a single article, because it offers a holistic and transformative pathway to averting the spread of dangerous diseases if fully integrated into the instrument.”

ENDS

BACKGROUND

“Zero draft” WHO convention, agreement or other international instrument on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response: https://apps.who.int/gb/inb/pdf_files/inb4/A_INB4_3-en.pdf