Geneva Health Files

Geneva Health Files is a reporting project focused on investigating the dynamics of power and politics within global health. This independent initiative monitors international health policy developments as they happen in Geneva, Switzerland, the hub of global health activities.

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Countries Choose Consensus on Pandemic Agreement, G7 Fait Accompli on Caveated Terms of Tech Transfer Compromises Policy Space for Developing Countries

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.
Nearing a Deal: Countries Converge Closer to Consensus [Pandemic Treaty Negotiations]

1 week ago | genevahealthfiles.substack.com | Priti Patnaik

Hi,When I walked out of WHO early on Saturday morning, history was in the making at the institution where diplomats were reaching closer to consensus on the Pandemic Agreement negotiations. We will know this week, whether history will indeed be made when countries resume talks on April 15th to finalize the deal.
Talks on Terms of Tech Transfer in Run into Unruly Trade Winds [Pandemic Treaty Negotiations]

2 weeks ago | genevahealthfiles.substack.com | Priti Patnaik

Hi,In the backdrop of what looks like a bonfire of international trade rules, WHO member states are trying to broker and conclude a global pandemic agreement to fight systemic risks, that needs cooperation, sharing of information, ensuring access to medical products even as industry demands more protection on intellectual property. While it is one of the toughest phases to conclude a treaty, the timing could not be more urgent for multilateral rule-making in global health.
Countries Inch Closer on Pathogen Access Benefits Sharing, Devil in the Details [Pandemic Agreement Negotiations]

2 weeks ago | genevahealthfiles.substack.com | Priti Patnaik

Hi,The Pathogen Access Benefits Sharing (PABS) system has often been referred to as the heart of the Pandemic Agreement, with its “promise” for a minimum guaranteed access to medical products during health emergencies. Given the complexity in the proposed mechanism, countries are basically suggesting, they will work on the “heart” later – because there is not enough time ahead of the May deadline to crunch all the details.
Space For Consensus Widens In Pandemic Treaty Negotiations; Disagreements on Tech Transfer, Benefits-Sharing, and Tariff Wars Threaten A Final Deal

2 weeks ago | genevahealthfiles.substack.com | Priti Patnaik

Hi,Optimism prevailed as countries gathered for a final round of negotiations on the Pandemic Agreement that commenced yesterday in Geneva. This has been refreshing given the general state of orchestrated chaos and malaise in global health that has dominated much of 2025. Whether this optimism will continue through the week is entirely another matter. In this update we bring you the state of play, and also look at the potential implications of the Trump-fired tariffs wars in these discussions.
Global Health Financing Crisis: Dog-Eat-Dog or A Constructive Prioritization? [GUEST ESSAY]

2 weeks ago | genevahealthfiles.substack.com | Priti Patnaik

Hi, Time is of essence. Key institutions and actors are trying to cope with the irreversible changes in global health. Even as the transition of the international order is underway, there is a need to simultaneously rebuild what comes next in this complex field of global health not insulated from such defining shifts. Who should be involved and why?And how could key actors decisively shape this moment?
Geneva Health Files January-March 2025 [The GHF WRAP]

3 weeks ago | genevahealthfiles.substack.com | Priti Patnaik

Dear Readers, Presenting the first wrap of 2025 that captures the last three months of our reportage. My colleague Sana Ali has compiled this for you. Support public interest global health journalism, become a paying subscriber. Tracking global health policy-making in Geneva is tough and expensive. Help us raise important questions, and in keeping an ear to the ground. Readers paying for our work makes this possible.
EU Countries Divided Over European Commission’s Role in the Pandemic Treaty Negotiations, Disagreement On Technology Transfer

3 weeks ago | genevahealthfiles.substack.com | Priti Patnaik

Hi,WHO member states meet next week to conclude the negotiations towards a new Pandemic Agreement, even as the organization itself has been caught up in a maelstrom of a financial crisis that is gaining pace to shake the fundamentals how global health is administered. We have been chronicling these negotiations for over three years, and there is no guarantee that negotiators would succeed even at this stage.
WHO proposes a Billion Dollar Cut to its Budget for 2026-27 to US$4.2 billion, DG Signals Plans to Shed Jobs Citing $600 Million Hole This Year

3 weeks ago | genevahealthfiles.substack.com | Priti Patnaik

Hi, Today we bring you a developing story. In the clearest indication of a debilitating financial crunch, WHO has proposed a cut in its budget for the next two years, and a reduction in its workforce. Beyond the here and the now, this will have implications for its activities at the country levels, and by extension, will impact public health everywhere. Thank you for reading. If you find our work valuable, become a paying subscriber.
Time For Sunset Strategy? Global Health After GAVI and The Global Fund

1 month ago | genevahealthfiles.substack.com | Olusoji Adeyi |Priti Patnaik

Hi, Global health is in the throes of change. Inevitably, nothing will be off limits and everything is on the table. In this edition, Nigerian global health scholar Olusoji Adeyi looks at current events through a critical lens, and asks some tough questions on the fundamental viability of big agencies in the context of dramatic policy shifts that we are witnessing today.