OEA - AG - Resolución AG08445E07

FIFTY-FIRST REGULAR SESSION OEA/Ser.P November 10 to 12, 2021 AG/CG/doc.3/21 corr. 1 Guatemala City, Guatemala 12 November 2021

VIRTUAL Original: Spanish

DRAFT RESOLUTION

DEVELOPMENTS IN THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND

ITS IMPACT ON THE HEMISPHERE

(Considered by the General Committee on November 11, 2021, pending preambular paragraph 11 and operative paragraphs 6 and 7) THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, PP1 ACKNOWLEGDING THAT its solidarity with the peoples of the Americas who continue to face the unprecedented effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on their lives, livelihoods, and economies; (Agreed) PP2 RECOGNIZING WITH ALARM that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on the most vulnerable people in the region; (Agreed) PP3 ALSO RECOGNIZING that the economic and social crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic has widened the already existing social and gender gaps; (Agreed) PP4 AWARE that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the inherent and structural vulnerabilities of small island developing and low-lying coastal states due to their small size, financial and human resources constraints, and susceptibility to exogenous shocks; (Agreed) PP5 FURTHER RECOGNIZING that the COVID-19 pandemic has deepened deficiencies and inequities in getting access to essential medicines, such as pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and other health technologies, affecting the response capacity of health systems and limiting the provision of health services; (Agreed) PP6 BEARING IN MIND that the health crisis has revealed the high dependence of Latin America and the Caribbean on imports of medicines and other health technologies from outside the region, the vulnerability of global supply chains in emergency situations, and the imbalance in vaccine

research, development, and production capacity in the Americas; (Agreed) PP7 RECOGNIZING that in general, the pandemic has deepened regional weaknesses in the planning, preparation, detection, and coordination response in public health; (Agreed) PP8 BEARING IN MIND that in the extraordinary session of the Permanent Council to consider the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact in the Hemisphere, held on

GENERAL ASSEMBLY2September 30, 2021, representative heads of state and government, and ministers of health, together with leading global and hemispheric health authorities emphasized agreed on the need for coordinated actions to improve the region' response to the COVID-19 pandemic and future health crises; (Agreed) PP9 REAFFIRMING that joint and coordinated hemispheric solidarity and cooperation will help slow and prevent the spread of COVID and contribute to strengthening the regional response and recovery efforts; and recognizing the role that the Organization of American States, the Pan American Health Organization, and subregional health institutions in the Hemisphere, especially the Caribbean Public Health Agency, can play in this matter; (Agreed) PP10 CONCERNED at the lack of equitable distribution of vaccines, which resulted in developing countries depending on charitable donations of vaccines. PP11 [A&B, BAH, BAR, BEL, DMA, GRD, GUY, HTI, VCT, KNA, LCA, TTO, SUR: CALLING FOR an increase in the production of [BRA: safe, effective, quality, and affordable, vaccines, including through regional efforts and] the establishment of production facilities in developing countries[HON: that meet the technical conditions for development of vaccines] and the [USA: voluntary/A&B does not support “voluntary”] exchange of relevant scientific and technical knowledge under mutually-agreed terms];[USA: eliminate this paragraph] [pending]

PP12 CONSIDERING that it is necessary to achieve greater political agreement in the region, for the support of structural and transformative actions to build resilient health systems that are capable of managing current and future threats, while promoting universal access to health and universal coverage of health for its populations; (Agreed) PP13 REAFFIRMING the importance of financing and technical assistance to allow member states, especially the most vulnerable nations, to mitigate the economic losses caused by the COVID19 pandemic and to prepare for future pandemics and other threats to health; (Agreed) PP14 TAKING INTO ACCOUNT resolution CP/RES. 1151 (2280/20) “Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic”, approved by the Permanent Council in the virtual extraordinary session held on April 16, 2020, and resolution CP/RES. 1165 (2312/21) “The equitable distribution of vaccines against COVID-19”, approved by the Permanent Council in the virtual regular session held on February 17, 2021; (Agreed) PP15 TAKING INTO ACCOUNT ALSO resolutions CD59.R3 “Increase in the production capacity of essential medicines and health technologies” and CD59.R13 “Reinvigorating immunizations as a public good for universal health” approved by the 59th Directing Council of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), in its session of September, 2021; (Agreed) PP16 REITERATING its continued gratitude to the Pan American Organization, the World Health Organization, the member states, and the regional health agencies, including the Caribbean Public Health Agency, for their work to protect the health of the peoples of the Americas at all times, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, (Agreed)- 3RESOLVES:

1. To instruct the Permanent Council to continue facilitating regular dialogue and updates from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), with a view to strengthening hemispheric coordination and cooperation to effectively combat COVID-19 and address its devastating socioeconomic effects. (Agreed)

2. To urge member states to promote mutual hemispheric solidarity in the development and acquisition of safe, accessible and effective vaccines and other health technologies, and within this framework, invite member states to support the development of voluntary regional platforms, in alignment with global multilateral efforts, such as the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator; the Regional Platform to Advance the Manufacturing of COVID-19 Vaccines and other Health Technologies in the Americas, launched by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO); as well as the initiative supported by the World Health Organization (WHO) and PAHO on Technology Transfer for Production of mRNA Vaccines in the Americas, and the COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (CTAP) initiative supported by the WHO. (Agreed)

3. To urge member states to make the greatest possible efforts to continue strengthening public investment in health, which allows for improvement and expansion of national and regional capacities for the development and production of raw materials, vaccines, diagnostic tests and therapeutics, in order to achieve a speedy recovery of regional health sectors and economies, and overcome our region’s vulnerability and external dependency during global health emergencies, allowing the achievement of adequate preparedness and response capabilities in our region. (Agreed)

4. To urge member states to take strategic and targeted measures to achieve resilient health systems by rapidly advancing towards access to and coverage of health, addressing systemic and structural deficiencies of health systems exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, tackling health inequities and environmental risk factors, ensuring the adoption and consolidation of innovations introduced in health systems during the pandemic response. (Agreed)

5. To call on the member states to apply consistent economic policies that contribute in a sustained way to creating jobs, increasing economic productivity and promoting innovation, including by strengthening literacy, digital infrastructure and technologies. (Agreed)

6. To call on the member states and permanent observers to coordinate common positions in Multilateral Organizations aimed at facilitating jointly the post-pandemic recovery, paying special attention to the economic, productive, and financial difficulties aggravated by the pandemic. (Agreed)

7. To support the role of extensive immunization against COVID 19 as a global public good [A&B, BAH, BAR, BEL, DMA, GRD, GUY, HTI, VCT, KNA, LCA, TTO, SUR: and to encourage] [USA: reiterate to] the member states, and permanent observers that are positioned to do so, to take measures to facilitate the equitable distribution of vaccines in the Hemisphere, considering that [USA: we will only overcome an important element in overcoming this emergency is ] by accelerating equitable and timely access to safe, effective, and quality COVID-19 vaccines. [USA: eliminate this paragraph] [Pending] 8. [A&B, BAH, BAR, BEL, DMA, GRD, GUY, HTI, VCT, KNA, LCA, TTO, SUR:

[USA: To call on request that international financial institutions consider providing to provide ]- 4concessionary financing, [COL: including concessionary financing / A&B, BAR: are against this proposal] to developing countries, particularly [CRI: small middle-income / A&B do no delete “small”] states, based on vulnerability, to mitigate economic losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic]. (Pending)

9. To encourage member states to implement communication and social participation strategies aimed at regaining the population's confidence in vaccines in furtherance of the achievement of immunity in each of them. (Agreed)

10. To urge member states, according to their context and national priorities, within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, and particularly within the global context of immunization and requirements for international travel, to apply, as appropriate, measures to facilitate the free movement of travelers, in accordance with the International Health Regulations and bearing in mind the recommendations and guidance of the WHO regarding immunization and travels. (Agreed)

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