New Delhi: Union Health Secretary Apurva Chandra on Monday praised India’s contribution during the Covid-19 pandemic. global health security Agenda on 77th World Health Assembly in which a package of amendments was agreed International Health Regulations (IHR 2005) is based on 300 proposals made by Member States following the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Finally, the IHR concluded on June 1, which was a great achievement… India’s contribution in that sense was good, bringing people together. Since we are respected in the global South and the global North, I think we play a good mediating role,” Chandra said.

The Union Health Secretary said that these IHRs were first approved in 2005 and they are like international law which all countries have to follow in the context of epidemics and pandemics.

“The biggest outcome of this World Health Assembly is the approval of the International Health Regulations (IHR),” he said.

He said that after the Covid pandemic some amendments were proposed and more than 300 amendments were proposed by various countries. However, these discussions were going on for the last two years and there was no conclusion on what and in what form these amendments are to be approved.

“Along with this, there is also a pandemic treaty specifically for vaccines, and how these things will happen in case of a pandemic has also been discussed,” he said.

The Union Health Secretary stressed that these two agreements are being negotiated by two different groups.

He said, “…we discussed this with all the stakeholders and we proposed that instead of two groups, there should be one group, a drafting group. And this was the proposal that I made, which was accepted by all the countries.”

He stressed, “Then they, that one group, worked through the night. Our representatives also participated. Most days the meetings went on till midnight. One day it even went on till 02:00. And finally, on the last day, that is at 11:00 pm, the IHR was concluded, which was a huge achievement. It had been under discussion for more than two years. And finally, it was approved.”

Referring to other treaties, Health Secretary Chandra said it was decided that the pandemic treaty would be taken up at the next World Health Assembly.

India is now given a lot of respect in the world World Health SummitHe said that the government has provided health facilities to 220 crore people.

He said, “We were able to take it to the people in just 6 months and our entire digital format was such that people were aware of it, everyone respects it a lot and respects the way we have done this work in India.”

“That is why everybody listens to us today at the World Health Seminar, whether it is from the Global North or the Global South, and in the Global South, we have delivered Covaxin to so many countries, so we have good reach there as well,” Chandra said.

Targeted amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR) aim to improve countries’ ability to prepare and respond. public health emergencies of International Concern (PHEIC) and Pandemic emergencies (PE).

These included provisions to facilitate Equitable access Providing funding for relevant health products during PHEIC and PE, as well as mobilizing financial resources to support developing countries in building, strengthening and maintaining core capacities required under the IHR (2005).

The Working Group on International Health Regulations (WGIHR) and the intergovernmental negotiating body on the Pandemic Treaty began the negotiation process about two years ago in two separate groups with country representatives and have met several times on the issue, including several resumptions of sessions.

During this process, many a times a situation arose that a deadlock occurred due to the stance adopted by various stakeholders.

To finalise a package of amendments to the IHR, a proposal in the form of a white paper was put forward by Chandra, as Chair of Committee A of the World Health Assembly, on May 28, 2024.

It proposed the establishment of a single drafting group, co-chaired by a bureau member of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) and Working Group on Amendments The meeting deliberated upon matters relating to some of the most important agenda items namely, proposed amendments to the International Health Regulations (2005) (WGIHR) followed by procedural matters on the way forward related to INB negotiations on Pandemic Treaty. The said proposal was approved unanimously by all Member States.