University of São Paulo: USP and Fiocruz participate in a group aimed at tackling health crises
USP and Fiocruz participate in the Working Group Agreement on Pandemics and Reform of the International Health Regulations, to improve the actions of the World Health Organization (WHO). The group discusses coping with the pandemic caused by the coronavirus and thinks of ways to make society more prepared.
Deisy Ventura, professor at the Faculty of Public Health at USP, researcher at Cepedisa (Center for Studies and Research in Health Law) and professor at the postgraduate program at the Institute of International Relations, mentions that society’s concern has moved beyond covid-19. directly to monkeypox, another ongoing international emergency, but with different characteristics: “We have no doubt that the interval between these health crises will be shorter and shorter”.
The professor indicates that it was possible to notice during the covid-19 pandemic how much the WHO has limited means to carry out its work. For her, there is a need for a regulatory framework that makes her recommendations more effective and the construction of stronger means of communication. At the moment, countries that have had an efficient response to the covid-19 pandemic are leading this process internationally.
Measures in progress
There are currently two major negotiations underway, one of which is a treaty, which can be a convention or an agreement. “It will be a treaty on pandemics, essentially led by European countries, the United States and the World Health Organization”, points out Deisy, who also emphasizes the need for immediate mobilization of developing countries, which are not giving due attention to these negotiations. .
In addition, there is also the reform of the IHR (International Health Regulation), which was a main instrument that guided international cooperation during the covid-19 pandemic. These two instruments are being negotiated and should be reformed until they are approved in 2024.
The group will discuss contributions for the better functioning of this mechanism. Despite this, the professor comments that the Brazilian government has no proposal for the treaty on the pandemic or for the change of the International Health Regulations: “We have to offer to the Brazilian State, it is not a matter of the government, it is a matter of the State . We have to offer the scientific community a set of proposals, so we will have monthly meetings to address different topics that may be present in this international regulation”.
unscientific stance
A few days ago, the Ministry of Health vetoed the appointment of Professor Deisy Ventura to join the WHO committee on the International Health Regulations. Without much clarity, the note stated that it did not consider the teacher’s profile suitable for the role, despite her extensive experience in ethical and health issues.
The professor reports: “It is important to understand that Brazil is no longer represented on this committee because the WHO chooses what it considers the greatest experts in a given area when it will constitute its committees. The World Health Organization indicated my name and it is not usual for States to veto the appointment of experts. So, it is a very strong anti-scientific attitude of the federal government, which does not affect me because my career is established […] what is serious is that Brazil is left out, without this knowledge, without this opportunity to follow the negotiations that interest us a lot”.
For Deisy, the dialogue between the scientific community and society needs to be more intimate. “It is very important that we recover our awareness that all of us, professors, scientists, researchers, need to dedicate at least an hour of our day, despite all the work we already have, to talk to society, talk to the different sectors of the State and show the importance of what we do. If we don’t have a very strong attitude of rescuing, recovering a common language with the Brazilian population, these episodes of vetoing science will be repeated”, she highlights.
The episode is also serious for the teacher because Brazil is losing ground in international spheres that are crucial for the country’s future. “How can we not be on a committee that will propose the text of the new International Health Regulations, how can we not be represented there?”, she asks.