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1 week ago | 
genevahealthfiles.substack.com | Priti Patnaik |Nishant Sirohi
Hi,Early this morning countries agreed on the text for a new Pandemic Agreement after three years of often fractious negotiations. In today’s story we unpack the final hours of these historic deliberations and describe how countries reached agreement in the starkly unequal field of international diplomacy.
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2 months ago | 
genevahealthfiles.substack.com | Priti Patnaik |Nishant Sirohi
Hi,In today’s edition, we go deep into technology transfer in global health, by referring to historical and contemporary developments on these discussions. Why now? Next week, countries meet yet again for the negotiations towards a new Pandemic Agreement - where provisions on tech transfer has proved to be an impasse for some years now. My colleague Nishant and I, bring you this analysis as the negotiations reach a likely penultimate phase. Thank you for reading.
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2 months ago | 
genevahealthfiles.substack.com | Priti Patnaik |Nishant Sirohi
Hi, That the WHO has been underfunded over the years has been a well-known fact. But just how dependent it has been on a small group of donors is becoming painfully obvious. The current crisis is more than just loss of financing as a result of the largest donor stepping away. The political implications of the financial crunch is beginning to emerge. We have been reporting this week that countries are paying more attention to budgeting and efficiency.
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Dec 3, 2024 | 
genevahealthfiles.substack.com | Priti Patnaik |Nishant Sirohi
Hi,The end of the year frenzy has been exacerbated by darkening geopolitics. This is also being felt in the negotiations towards a Pandemic Agreement at World Health Organization in Geneva. In today’s edition, we bring you the state of play on this week’s deliberations that began yesterday, on December 2. WHO member states continue to dig in their heels in the final month of 2024, potentially carrying forward the impasse to the next year.
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Nov 29, 2024 | 
genevahealthfiles.substack.com | Nishant Sirohi |Priti Patnaik
Hi,Like life, in law, sometimes, a lot hinges on a single word. And yet of course, there is much more to it than the word itself. In today’s edition, we examine the word “Unhindered” access in the context of ensuring that medical services, products reach vulnerable populations in conflict settings, sanctioned countries during health emergencies. This has divided countries, like few other contentious issues in the Pandemic Agreement. And it will not go away.
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Oct 9, 2024 | 
genevahealthfiles.substack.com | Priti Patnaik |Nishant Sirohi
Hi, I am pleased to share that we have published an updated edition of our book: The TRIPS Waiver Negotiations at the WTO: WhenIntellectual Property Trumped Global Health [ISBN: 9782970162728]. Nearly 700 pages, the volume has about 70 stories published in Geneva Health Files between October 2020, and till about July 2024. Accompanying the formal book launch, we recently convened a policy dialogue in Geneva on “the Political Significance of the TRIPS Waiver Negotiations”.
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Sep 11, 2024 | 
genevahealthfiles.substack.com | Priti Patnaik |Nishant Sirohi
Hi, I am not a lawyer. But we are now in the territory of high-flying legal abstraction in the ongoing negotiations towards a Pandemic Agreement at WHO. Like before, the politics in these discussions shapes the way legal considerations are made. My colleague Nishant (who is a lawyer!), has helped me putting together this interesting edition on the nuts and bolts of the legal form that the Pandemic Agreement (PA), and the shape its various components might take (Annex Vs Protocol).
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Jul 18, 2024 | 
genevahealthfiles.substack.com | Priti Patnaik |Nishant Sirohi
Hi, I am delighted (and somewhat exhausted) to present the 100th edition of “Treaty Talks” - our signature editions on global health negotiations on Pandemic Prevention Preparedness and Response. We are at a turning point in these discussions, but I am not sure yet if it will be a significant turn. We bring you a comprehensive update on the meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body in Geneva, that concluded last evening.
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Jun 18, 2024 | 
genevahealthfiles.substack.com | Nishant Sirohi |Priti Patnaik
Hi, Healthcare facilities in conflict zones have been exposed to aggression and violence like never before. This draws attention to prevailing legal mechanisms and their limitations. In today’s essay, my colleague Nishant Sirohi examines the protections enshrined in International Humanitarian Law and how they have been ignored in the unfolding crisis in Gaza. He calls for a nuanced legal discourse to confront the pervasive pattern of healthcare assaults in conflict zones worldwide.
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May 25, 2024 | 
genevahealthfiles.substack.com | Priti Patnaik |Nishant Sirohi
Hi,With about 48 hours to go for the 77th World Health Assembly, the two Big Ticket items on the table, are far from ready for adoption by WHO member states. Read our edition today on the state of play. We also present statements made by countries to give you a sense of the mood. Exceptionally, we also present The Files View an editorial on these matters. Negotiators and many of those involved in these discussions have been operating at sub-optimal levels of well-being.
