URU, Alm.del - 2021-22 - Bilag 104: IPU-resolution om global adgang til vacciner mod covid-19

Udenrigsudvalget 2021-22
URU Alm.del Bilag 104
Offentligt

143rd IPU Assembly

Madrid, Spain

26-30 November 2021

Harnessing global parliamentary support

for vaccine equity in the fight against

the COVID-19 pandemic

Resolution adopted unanimously by the 143rd IPU Assembly

(Madrid, 29 November 2021)

The 143rd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Welcoming

the UN Security Council Resolution 2565 (2021) adopted on

26 February 2021,

Recalling

that the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of

physical, mental and social health and well-being is a fundamental human right enshrined

in Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on

Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Sustainable Development Goal 3, the Constitution

of the World Health Organization, the majority of national constitutions and other

international treaties and agreements to which the IPU Members are signatories,

Also recalling

that this right is accorded to all human beings regardless of

race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin,

property, disability, birth or other status,

Cognizant

that, on 23 September 2019, world leaders endorsed a

comprehensive political declaration on health at the UN High-Level Meeting on Universal

Health Coverage under the theme

Universal Health Coverage: Moving Together to Build

a Healthier World

in which they undertook to co-operate in strengthening health systems

to ensure that they are equitable, resilient and capable of meeting everyone’s needs as

an essential priority for international development,

Mindful

that, at the 141st IPU Assembly held in Belgrade, Serbia in

October 2019, the IPU adopted a landmark resolution entitled

Achieving Universal Health

Coverage by 2030: The role of parliaments in ensuring the right to health

calling for

parliaments to take all legal and policy measures to achieve Universal Health Coverage

and address barriers to access to health for all,

Noting

that the COVID-19 pandemic has been an ongoing moment of

reckoning for health systems and health security around the world, as well as to our

commitment in both word and deed to achieving Universal Health Coverage and

addressing barriers to access to health for all in such times of crisis,

Recognizing

that vaccination is part of a comprehensive strategy to reduce

transmission and save lives and is among the most important tools in the fight against the

pandemic, and reaffirming that extensive COVID-19 immunization is a global public good,

#IPU143

URU, Alm.del - 2021-22 - Bilag 104: IPU-resolution om global adgang til vacciner mod covid-19

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Welcoming

the fact that the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) initiative has

already delivered more than 550 million vaccine doses to low and lower-middle income countries,

including substantial amounts of vaccine donations from high income countries, and has secured

enough vaccines to cover 43 per cent of the populations concerned,

Concerned

that prolonged delays in the recognition and registration of vaccines

complicate the health and developmental crisis, economic downturn and suffering occasioned by

the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa and other regions among those most affected, and that vaccine

inequality translates into social and economic inequality resulting in more fatalities and increased

poverty,

Therefore the 143rd Assembly:

Calls upon

the international community and the WHO to further advance joint efforts to

ensure timely, equitable and universal access to safe, affordable, quality and effective

vaccines, with particular regard to the needs of low and middle income countries and

the most affected regions;

Calls upon

countries to recognize the importance of the principle of equity, meaning

that each person must be vaccinated in accordance with their level of risk and needs,

and to ensure that that principle be reflected at the national and global levels with

respect to access to essential vaccines;

Encourages

vaccine manufacturers to provide regular, clear supply forecasts as to

how they will fulfil and prioritize their contracts with COVAX and other relevant

regional initiatives;

Also encourages

vaccine manufacturers to enhance the production of vaccines by

using flexible cooperation models such as building up fill and finish production

capacities, technology partnerships and licensing activities;

Calls upon

governments to harmonize all regulatory requirements to accelerate the

supply of vaccines, and provide the logistics and training for implementing large-scale

vaccination programmes;

Implores

parliamentarians to work with their national governments to exert a global

and collective influence on the WTO to eliminate all export restrictions and any other

trade barriers on COVID-19 vaccines and the inputs involved in their production;

Insists

on the fact that both national and international efforts to raise awareness

regarding the effectiveness of vaccines, to engage communities and to reduce vaccine

hesitancy are indispensable to attain a sufficient degree of immunization around the

world and that considerably more efforts in this field are required.