FIND statement at the UN High-Level meeting on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response

Ensuring equity through capacity building for PPPR and harnessing timely, sustainable and innovative financing and investment

Delivered by Karishma Saran, Senior Manager, Advocacy and Communication
United Nations headquarters, New York, 20 September 2023

As we convene today to mobilize around global PPPR efforts, we must build on the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly the importance of equity across all dimensions of the global response. Without equitable access to diagnostics and other critical tools, the world will remain blind to emerging threats, and any pandemic prevention or response action will undoubtedly fail. We also need to recognize the need for more inclusive governance in global health investments in medical countermeasures.

It is critical to build upon the diagnostics infrastructure and capacity including research & product development, manufacturing, and genomic surveillance, built for the COVID-19 response in low-resourced settings and ensure continued investment in, and maintenance, of this capacity for future pandemics. It is immensely worrying that no commitments have been made to date for the diagnostics preparedness R&D vision and concrete plans that would enable us to achieve the preparedness goals referred to as 100-day mission or the 7-1-7 agenda.

The WHA Resolution on strengthening diagnostics capacity, which was adopted at the World Health Assembly in May, urges Member States to strengthen international collaboration during health emergencies, to commit resources towards diagnostics R&D, and to strengthen regional diagnostics production. We thus urge Member States to follow through with the required investments in testing and diagnostic preparedness.

Accurate, timely diagnosis is the foundation for everything we do in health. FIND stands ready to support the global community and all Member States to achieve equitable and affordable diagnostics for all.

Thank you.