Negotiating Equity: The Amendments to the International Health Regulations (2005)
A multilateral effort to strengthen the rules to govern international health emergencies: Negotiations at the World Health Organization between 2021-2024.
A multilateral effort to strengthen the rules to govern international health emergencies: Negotiations at the World Health Organization between 2021-2024.
Politics underlie technical rules. This is a story of how 194 member states of the World Health Organization came together to strengthen the rules that govern health emergencies. Many believed that the International Health Regulations (2005), had failed to protect the world from the COVID-19 pandemic. Countries set about establishing a process to amend the rules to make them more fit for purpose. The negotiations unfolded in Geneva, Switzerland at the headquarters of the World Health Organization, where 196 State Parties to the IHR came together to negotiate the amendments in a highly political and fairly contested discussions that lasted for three years. In June 2024, countries adopted these amended rules with the objective to respond to health emergencies more equitably in the future.
Author
“The goal was to really present this book as a ready reckoner for anyone who’s interested to get a glimpse of how these negotiations on the IHR were conducted, the key players and some behind-the-scenes-color. It is a journalistic effort to capture closed door discussions. I must confess, of course, I had some fabulous sources to help us understand these technical issues, but it was enormously tough. There weren’t as many stakeholders. The flow of information was slower. But now we have everything in one place, as it unfolded and as we reported.
Reviews from Readers
The book is a comprehensive and insightful account of the WGIHR negotiations. It demonstrates the tenacity and relentlessness required to report accurately on ‘closed door’ negotiations. Importantly, it highlights the critical role journalists play in ensuring accountability from those negotiating and those in positions of power
(Co-Chair, The Working Group for Amendments to the International Health Regulations)
The negotiations of the amendments to the International Health Regulations have been short but intense, complex and influenced by the parallel negotiation of the pandemic agreement. Priti Patnaik’s consistent coverage, insightful analysis and unparalleled connections in the diplomatic world have not only helped making sense of the process as it unfolded but also provided an insider perspective that facilitated a full understanding of its outcome
(Director, Joint Georgetown/Graduate Institute LLM in Global Health Law and Governance)
The journalistic work of the Geneva Health Files is a public good. It brings us behind the scenes of the negotiations for new and amended provisions of the International Health Regulations. Therefore, many will profit immensely from its contents, particularly decision-makers, academics, civil society representatives, legal practitioners and other journalists.
(Senior Research Fellow at both the German Institute for International and Security Affairs)
These intergovernmental negotiations showcase the role of politics in shaping the outcomes for public health. The book is a compilation of more than 35 stories that were reported over a period of three years during 2021-2024 ensuing the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on extensive and regular interviews by hustling diplomats for intelligence, combining on-the-ground presence, and direct references to evolving negotiated texts during this period, this reportage is a product of old-fashioned journalistic methods that captured dynamics in the negotiations, and pieced together closed-door technical discussions. This is also a story of team work, astute behind-the-scenes diplomacy, as much as it is about leading from the front, in a complex environment of biting political interests and competing objectives.
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