World Health Assembly: lessons learned from the pandemic?

Member states of the WHO are about to meet in Geneva with lessons learned from the pandemic high on their agenda. The Inside Geneva podcast explores what they might be.

Podcast host Imogen Foulkes is joined in this episode by global health experts.

“We should look at why zoonotic events happen, and maybe start banning wildlife trading. A new pandemic treaty should address the way we grow food and breed animals,” says Nicoletta Dentico, head of the global health programme at the Society for International Development (SID). Zoonotic diseases involve germs spreading between animals and humans.

How can we prevent another devastating pandemic? How do we make sure vaccines and treatments are shared fairly?

“That the TRIPS waiver discussion on vaccines is still ongoing, I personally consider as a mix of mind-boggling and insane,” says Thomas Cueni, director general of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA).

There are lots of opinions, but little agreement.

“Charity is not going to be good enough, calls for solidarity are not going to be good enough. Calls to listen to science and do the right thing are not going to be good enough. We must have many more binding rules that governments really follow because they think it’s in their own best interests to do it,” says Suerie Moon, co-director of the Global Health Centre (GHC) at the Geneva Graduate Institute.

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