FCGH Alliance members to WHA74: A Framework Convention on Global Health would ‘create a safer world for all’
FCGH Alliance members Alliance for Health Promotion, International Alliance of Patients’ Organizations, and Amref Africa submitted the following statement to the Seventy-fourth World Health Assembly:
Agenda Items
Agenda Item 17 WHO’s work in health emergencies and strengthening preparedness for health emergencies and Agenda Item 18 Mental health preparedness for and response to the COVID-19 pandemic
Statement
The Alliance for Health Promotion (A4HP) is presenting this Statement with the International Association of Patients’ Organizations (IAPO) and AMREF Health Africa
A rights- and equity-based pandemic treaty is vital for health security, but so is securing the right to health itself. The Framework Convention on Global Health (FCGH), based in the right to health and aimed at national and global health equity, would do just that. Drawing inspiration from the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, and innovative instruments like the Paris Agreement on climate change, the FCGH would empower people to claim the right to health and health ministries and governments to realize it for everyone.
Earlier treaties encompass the right to health, yet realization remains distant. The FCGH’s power would come from its mechanisms, clear standards, and accountability regime. It would encompass key principles like equity, participation and accountability, leading to health systems that earn people’s trust, meaning greater behavioral health measure compliance and vaccine confidence, and health emergency planning and responses meeting all populations’ needs.
The FCGH would address resources. A global health financing framework and inclusive, national processes for health financing and UHC targets and timelines would foster strong, inclusive health systems, improving disease surveillance and health outcomes during emergencies.
The FCGH would ensure that actions with extraterritorial affect respect the right–preventing intellectual property rights from impeding access to affordable vaccines and therapies. Mechanisms would counter commercial determinants of health that contribute to underlying conditions that worsen outcomes during health emergencies.
The FCGH would thus create a safer world for all – and would be invaluable for accelerating progress towards the SDGs and tackling one of the world’s greatest moral crises – the unconscionable inequities within and between countries. We urge states to include the FCGH in all relevant discussions, and rapidly establish processes towards developing the FCGH. For more information: https://fcghalliance.org/
Thank you.