Deborah J. Nelson, Ryan McNeill, Helen
HEALTH officials from around the world, as they gather to discuss a treaty addressing pandemic prevention next week, are struggling to agree on funding for developing countries and measures to thwart jumps by pathogens from animals into humans.
The meeting, starting tomorrow in Geneva, is part of negotiations by the decision-making body of the World Health Organisation (WHO) to tackle pandemic threats in a legally binding accord.
Representatives from as many as 194 countries could take part. Among the sticking points are costs of measures meant to address the risk of pathogens emerging from wildlife.
Risk factors, many of which disproportionately affect the developing world, include deforestation, climate change, rapid urbanisation and the wildlife trade.
Previous discussions that began two years ago have centred on preparedness of health systems. The discussions next week, by contrast, are meant to focus on prevention.
Health experts say that finding ways to stop potential pandemics before they can emerge is as crucial as any amount of readiness for when they do.
"We will see more pandemics and we will see more severe outbreaks if we don't act on prevention," said Chadia Wannous, a global coordinator at the World Organisation for Animal Health, a France-based intergovernmental body involved in the treaty discussions.
In May, Reuters published an exclusive global analysis of environmental risk factors associated with zoonotic spillover, the term used by scientists to describe a leap by a pathogen from animals to humans.
Spillovers are the leading source of infectious diseases in humans.
The pathogens that cause Covid-19, Ebola, Nipah and other deadly illnesses are caused by or closely related to viruses found in the wild, particularly among some tropical bats.
Reuters' analysis found that the number of people living in areas at high-risk of spillover, mostly tropical locales rich in bats and undergoing rapid urbanisation, grew by 57 per cent in the two decades ending in 2020.
Nearly 1.8 billion people, or one of every five on the planet, now live in these areas.
Since early in the Covid-19 pandemic, global health officials have sought to create a "pandemic treaty" to better prepare for future outbreaks.
The governing body of the WHO chose delegates from six administrative regions worldwide to lead the negotiations. The delegates have met periodically with representatives of member countries, tasked with forging an agreement by May 2024.
But governments remain divided, failing to agree on some of the basics needed to strengthen health systems worldwide, including the sharing of information, costs and vaccines.
The divisions arose anew in June, when the European Union negotiated new agreements with pharmaceutical companies to reserve vaccines for future pandemics.
The disparity between rich and poor countries is noted in the first paragraph of the proposed treaty to be discussed in Geneva.
The draft cites "the catastrophic failure of the international community in showing solidarity and equity in response to the coronavirus disease".
Despite broad consensus on the need for pandemic prevention, the biggest sticking point remains financing for poor countries.
"Lower income countries don't want to make obligations unless they get funding," said Lawrence Gostin of the WHO global health law centre. "Higher income countries are resistant to guaranteeing funds."
Nearly all of the highest-risk areas identified by the Reuters spillover analysis are in low- and middle-income countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
The writers are from the Reuters news agency