As a medical humanitarian organisation experienced in responding to health emergencies, MSF engaged in INB negotiations, attesting that a lack of binding rules ensuring equitable access to lifesaving medical tools costs lives.

Although the Pandemic Agreement could have established firmer obligations on several key issues, including technology transfer, we welcome its positive elements as a foundation on which to build. Specifically: ensuring healthcare workers priority access to medical products; facilitating rapid humanitarian relief during emergencies; developing and implementing national policies attaching access conditions to public R&D funding; enhancing transparency in supply and procurement; and establishing the Global Supply Chain and Logistics Network and Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing system (PABS).

Member states must now adopt the Agreement, begin implementation, and finalise the PABS Annex to enable effective benefit sharing.