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World Health Organization negotiations on sharing viruses and vaccines extended by one year

Sharing viruses and vaccines: WHO negotiations extended by a year
Sharing viruses and vaccines: WHO negotiations extended by a year Keystone-SDA

Talks in Geneva on a global system for sharing viruses and vaccines during pandemics have stalled, with members of the World Health Organization agreeing late Friday to extend negotiations for another year after failing to reach consensus.

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After another week of talks, rich and developing countries were unable to reach an agreement. The extension will have to be formally approved at the World Health Assembly, which opens in Geneva on 18 May. The next round of discussions will take place in July.

“You have shown strong commitment”, said the Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “Real progress has been made”, but “major differences” remain, he added.

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The States must produce an annex to the historic agreement reached last year. This is important because it is a condition for the ratification process of this arrangement.

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