Re-Inventing Global Public Health in the Shadow of COVID-19: Decentring Intellectual Property in International Health Regulations (IHR) and the Pandemic Agreement for SDGs

Journal of Global Health Law
(July 2026)

By Chidi Oguamanam

This article elaborates on the context and trend toward decentering intellectual property in access to medicines and pandemic-related products. It traces the evolving state of major international regulatory responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically the 2024 International Health Regulations and the 2025 WHO Pandemic Agreement.

The two instruments embody novel approaches to reposition the global public health for pandemic prevention, preparedness and response. Premised on good health and well-being, the instruments strengthen the SDGs, especially SDG 3, within the mainstream of global public health. With new and extended powers, the WHO is at the centre of this current transition in global health.

However, there is no commensurate buffer for the organization to navigate the unassailable political obstacles to its new roles. Attempts to entrench equity and solidarity as the hallmark of the new global health order are unlikely to be far-reaching, being framed in politically constraining diplomatese. Specifically, the WHO Member States have yet to demonstrate temperance on the issue of sovereignty. Yet, the 2024 IHR and the 2025 WHO-PA encapsulate a strategic and principles-driven response to global health in a state of flux and in need of continually responsive nimbleness.

Re-Inventing Global Public Health in the Shadow of COVID-19: Decentring Intellectual Property in International Health Regulations (IHR) and the Pandemic Agreement for SDGs

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