Thread by @TAGTeam_Tweets

As new #pandemictreaty negotiations continue @WHO, TAG has partnered with @StrategicUnito to urge that the new international instrument explicitly incorporate the universal human right to benefit from scientific progress and its applications as a central framework. 🧵

Why do we believe the #RightToScience - enshrined in Article 15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights - must be foundational to the new international instrument of pandemic preparedness and response?

1. The #RightToScience compels states to take action to end not only future pandemics, but also the pandemics of today - such as HIV, TB, HCV + antimicrobial resistance.

2. An international instrument rooted in the #RightToScience would assert that people affected by a pandemic must be involved at every stage of the scientific response - from research to clinical trial design to the development of evidence-based policy guidelines.

3. It would explicitly lay out that the #RightToScience must entail access to knowledge and information, as well as material results of scientific advancement, including medicines, vaccines + diagnostics.

4. It would set forth obligations on the part of member states to ensure the availability, affordability and accessibility of all scientific goods for all who need them.

5. It would impose an obligation for member states to cooperate on matters of health and science, rather than compete.

6. The #RightToScience establishes the primacy of human rights over intellectual property protections, demanding the prioritization of equitable distribution of scientific products over private profits.

Throughout the #pandemictreaty negotiation process, TAG has engaged the INB to urge a global recommitment to the human #RightToScience. You can read our submitted statements here: treatmentactiongroup.org/letter/tag-sub…