The Global Health Security Conference, which took place in Sydney from June 17 to 21, 2024, brought together about 1200 participants from various fields and sectors related to global health security. While historically dominated by medical, scientific, and technical specialists, the importance of law in enhancing global health security is becoming more widely recognized.

Against this backdrop, the NUS Centre for International Law, together with collaborators American Society of International Law Global Health Law Interest Group, Asia Centre for Health Security, Open African Innovation Research, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Global Health Law Consortium, Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice> hosted a side event titled “The World Together in Pandemic Preparedness and Response” to discuss the World Health Organization's recent international legal reform efforts to amend the International Health Regulations and negotiate a new pandemic agreement.

The side event focused on three of the negotiations' most critical or contentious issues: the pathogen access and benefit sharing system (PABS), intellectual property and technology transfer, and human rights and ethics. A/Prof Ayelet Berman (Lead of the Global Health Law Program) moderated a debate about technology transfer and intellectual property, as well as how countries or regions might become more self-sufficient in the development and production of vaccines and medicines.

It was an honor to have welcomed the co-chair of the International Negotiation Body (INB), Ms. Precious Matsoso, and the Fijian representative in the IHR amendment process. Aalisha Sahukhan. The speakers included distinguished global health law scholars, including Roojin Habibi, Adam Kamradt Scott, Mark Eccleston-Turner, Karen Grepin, Clare Wenham, Michelle Rourke, Kashish Aneja, Ronald  Tundang, Pedro Villareal and Nicole Foster.