From 25 to 29 January 2022, the 150th session of the World Health Organization’s (“WHO”) Executive Board (“EB”) took place in Geneva, Switzerland.  Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, a central theme for this session was the management of global health emergencies.  This post briefly outlines the main take-aways for pharmaceutical companies.

First, the EB took a meaningful step towards amending the International Health Regulations (“IHR”).  The IHR constitute a key legal instrument setting out countries’ responsibilities during public health events and emergencies that have the potential to cross borders.  It legally binds 196 countries, including the 194 WHO Member States.  The IHR play a crucial role in global pandemic preparedness and response, for example by imposing reporting requirements on countries and outlining the criteria to determine whether a health event represents a “public health emergency of international concern.”  Nevertheless, the instrument dates back from 2005, and with the experiences from COVID-19 fresh in countries’ minds, the push for reforms is growing.  The United States for example has reportedly proposed to introduce further obligations for countries where potential public health threats appear, including accelerated sharing of information (such as through the introduction of an early warning system), sharing of genetic sequence information and the facilitating of access to outbreak sites for public health experts.  These proposals, however, are controversial.  Certain Member States fear that the reforms may undermine their sovereign interests and could result in international investigations on the government’s handling of public health threats.  Other actors, such as the EU, consider that some of the shortcomings of the IHR would be better addressed in a new legal instrument, for example in an International Pandemic Treaty.

Despite the controversy, the EB now decided to mandate the Member States’ “Working Group on Strengthening WHO Preparedness and Response to Health Emergencies” to discuss the strengthening of the IHR, including through potential amendments.  In addition, the EB called on countries to “take all appropriate measures to consider potential amendments” to the IHR, but also noted that this would not lead to reopening the entire instrument for renegotiation.  The adoption of the decision paves the way for potentially significant changes in the management of global health emergencies, though the scope and timeline for the review of the IHR still remain to be determined.

Second, the EB discussed a report by the Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on influenza preparedness and the “Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System” (“GISRS”).  GISRS is an international platform for the monitoring, risk assessment and risk surveillance of influenza.  It is characterised by an intensive and year-round collaboration between public stakeholders, such as National Influenza Centers, WHO Collaborating Centers and Essential Regulatory Laboratories, as well as private actors, such as vaccine developers.  The platform has existed for 70 years, and has been very successful in mitigating the negative public health impact of seasonal influenza.  However, recent years have seen major challenges with the sharing of influenza viruses and data between countries, as a result of national laws implementing the Nagoya Protocol on access to genetic resources and benefit-sharing.  The Director-General’s report proposed to expand GISRS to include other respiratory viruses with epidemic and pandemic potential, while also stressing the need for “sensitizing Member States to the importance of timely influenza virus sharing and use.”  This was noted by the EB, but decisions were not yet adopted.  To a certain extent, this is caused by the issue of access and benefit-sharing for pathogens as it is hotly contested among the Member States.

The 151st session of the EB will take place in May 2022, following the 75th meeting of the World Health Assembly.  Pharmaceutical companies active in manufacturing vaccines, diagnostics and treatments relating to infectious diseases are well advised to closely monitor the developments surrounding the IHR and GISRS.

With the assistance of Machteld van Egmond.

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Photo of Bart Van Vooren Bart Van Vooren

Bart Van Vooren, partner leads a dynamic practice at the intersection of EU regulatory law, global health, and biodiversity law. In these fields, he advises innovative pharmaceutical, food, cosmetic and technology companies on complex EU and global regulatory, compliance and policy assignments.

Bart…

Bart Van Vooren, partner leads a dynamic practice at the intersection of EU regulatory law, global health, and biodiversity law. In these fields, he advises innovative pharmaceutical, food, cosmetic and technology companies on complex EU and global regulatory, compliance and policy assignments.

Bart holds a Ph.D. in EU and International Law and was a professor of EU law until 2013. During that time, he wrote the first-ever handbook with Cambridge University Press on “EU External Relations Law” (2014). He then transitioned to private practice, and frequently acted for the Belgian government before the EU Court of Justice (e.g. C-16/16P Belgium vs Commission). Bart joined Covington in 2016, leading some of our most consequential EU litigation proceedings (e.g. C-311/18 “Schrems II”) over the years.  Having handled nearly 50 cases before the EU Court, he’s uniquely qualified to support our corporate clients in our most high-stakes disputes. Recent examples include T-189/21 Aloe Vera of Europe v Commission (which we won, so the Commission decided to appeal); as well as T-201/21 Covington & Burling and Van Vooren v Commission (which we also won, and hence is also on appeal).

As a pioneer in biodiversity law, over the past 15 years Bart has built a unique, global practice on Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS) laws under the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Nagoya Protocol, the Plant Treaty, the High Seas Treaty and the WHO Pandemic Agreement. ABS compliance is critical when sourcing biological materials for life sciences R&D and I work with many of the world’s innovative life sciences companies on the whole range of e.g. transactional, contractual, compliance, IP, (EU) regulatory and litigation work relating to ABS. As biodiversity has increasingly become identified as a major commercial and financial risk to companies, so has the practice expanded to e.g. biodiversity credit markets, biodiversity insurance, biodiversity claims and advertising, and so on. Since April 2025, Bart has been appointed as the industry representative to the Steering Committee of the UN Biodiversity Fund that seeks funding from the private sector for biodiversity conservation and restoration.

Bart also pioneered our global health practice. He has advised pharmaceutical clients on seasonal and pandemic influenza since 2016. Since then, this practice area expanded to cover all matters relating to infectious diseases, and as of 2020, emergency preparedness and response (eg. WHO prequalification, International Coordination Group negotiations, Emergency Use Listing, International Health Regulations Rev 2024). He has been the pharmaceutical industry’s lead lawyer advising on the WHO Pandemic Treaty negotiations, adopted on 14 May 2025. Currently, he continues to advise on the work of the Intergovernmental Working Group (“IGWG”) teasing out the technical details of the “Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing System” intended to create legally binding obligations on companies to commit vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics in case of a new global health emergency.

In Chambers rankings, clients have kindly described Bart as “very knowledgeable, action-focused and service-focused lawyer”, adding that he “really tries to find a way of working through challenges”, am “customer-oriented” and provide “sound advice and reasonable options for our business with pros and cons.”

Finally, Bart has an active pro bono practice assisting NGOs defending the human rights of persons with a disability through strategic litigation before the EU Court.

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