The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes the importance of involving parliamentarians in international health forums and discussions at the highest political levels. In October 2022, at the World Health Summit (WHS) in Berlin, Dr. Tedros A. Ghebreyesus, emphasized the crucial role of parliamentarians in advancing global health:
Indeed, in such forums, parliamentarians can bring attention to their national health priorities, strengthening their country’s position in international health policy discussions, while making a significant contribution to global health governance.
In May 2023, Hon. Ricardo Baptista Leite, was one of the selected panelists for the multistakeholder hearings on health (MSH) on PPPR, held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. As the President and Founder of UNITE, Hon. Ricardo presented the key asks of the network, advocating for greater inclusion of parliamentarians in the negotiation processes and to include accountability mechanisms in the forthcoming political declaration. This declaration is set to be adopted in September this year during at the United Nations High Level Meetings (UN HLMs) on health.
Meanwhile, in June 2023, the Zero Draft Political Declaration on PPPR was circulated among member states to be negotiated in several phases until the end of July. For the exact timeline, you can read the document here. The UNITE Global Board, in collaboration with Campaigns in Global Health (CGH), provided written comments to the Zero Draft Political Declaration on PPPR. These comments were sent to the Portuguese Ministry of Health, the co-facilitators of the negotiations and to the permanent missions in New York in charge of the negotiations.
In a general approach, the Zero Draft Political Declaration should be a short and concise political declaration with clear language and actionable commitments. Furthermore, the UNITE Global Board calls for strong political will and commitment from governments to make the political declaration on PPPR translated into concrete action. At the same time, Members of Parliament should be included in this process, and their role should be emphasized in the accountability, monitoring, implementation, and oversight process of the commitments made. Members of Parliament represent their constituencies and they can hold their governments accountable for commitments made at the highest levels.
Fostering an effective pandemic prevention, preparedness and response is crucial to prevent future pandemics. Therefore, transparent and accountable governance is essential to guarantee effective PPPR.
International cooperation and global solidarity are essential in addressing pandemics, especially with a focus on equity. We need to strengthen international cooperation and coordination at the highest political levels – governments, national and supranational parliaments, international organizations – with determination.
At the same time, we need more evidence-based legislation and capacity building for Parliamentarians to formulate appropriate laws. We also need to advocate for investments in health from national budgets to ensure sustainability of pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response services. Furthermore, it is instrumental to recognize the role of community health workers and invest in them.
To strengthen health systems, we need to advance primary health care to guarantee equitable access to health to everyone, everywhere. Advancing Universal Health Coverage (UHC) will be essential to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
UNITE and CGH insist on the importance of international collaboration and cooperation and particularly the whole of government and whole of society approach to make sure that we are better prepared to face the next pandemics and to guarantee that everyone, everywhere has access to the necessary treatments, vaccines, diagnostics, and medical resources, especially in low- and middle-income countries.
Finally, we need to leverage alignment and synergies in efforts to strengthen PPPR and to end tuberculosis (TB) moving forward, as well as advancing UHC considering the upcoming HLMs on health.
