Wednesday, March 29, 2023
Dear Advocate,
To help navigate it all, we’re delighted to launch
our newest PxPulse podcast episode and a new
Advocates’ Guide for Pandemic Preparedness and Response (PPPR) in 2023.
Over the coming months, global leaders will make key decisions about several initiatives to prepare for the next pandemic. What they commit to and how much they will spend, and how well these plans incorporate equity as a principle across all of these initiatives, is in question.
Deadlines for civil society to influence these decisions are coming up. Among these initiatives are the
Pandemic Fund, the
Pandemic Accord, several UN High-Level Meetings, and there's also the
Medical Countermeasures, or MCM, platform. The MCM platform would coordinate drugs, vaccines, diagnostics and other equipment for health emergencies.
In
our last podcast, we spoke with Chris Collins, President of
Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, TB and Malaria about all these efforts. He talked about how ultimately these decisions will build a new architecture for Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Response, or PPPR.
Chris and the HIV community
have been calling for stronger health systems and expanded domestic funding for health and have been pushing for a rights-based approach to pandemic prevention, preparedness and response—one that builds on the decades of advocacy that has shaped the response to HIV.
But it’s not clear whether planning for the next pandemic is heeding these lessons.
Karrar Karrar, who heads up Health Policy at
Save the Children, and
Samantha Rick, who leads AVAC’s PPPR policy advocacy, have been tracking these efforts closely. They explain exactly what commitments for equity are needed and who needs to hear this advocacy and when.
Be sure to check out our
Advocates’ Guide for PPPR in 2023, for a breakdown on all the moving parts, the organizations and initiatives to track, and key timelines for the year ahead.
Other helpful resources include:
For the full podcast episode and the archive of previous episodes, visit
avac.org/px-pulse. And subscribe on
Apple Podcasts,
Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts!
Best,
AVAC
