On 13 January 2026, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Commission’s Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (DG HERA) brought together regional partners in Brussels for a workshop focused on pooled procurement of medical countermeasures – including diagnostics, treatments and vaccines – for health emergencies.
The workshop followed a regional entities meeting hosted by the interim Medical Countermeasures Network (i-MCM-Net) in March 2024, where information exchange on pooled procurement was identified as a priority for coordination and collaboration.
Participants included representatives from regional entities and partner organizations, including the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Regional Revolving Funds, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the ASEAN Vaccine Security and Self-Reliance initiative partners represented by the National Vaccine Institute of Thailand and the National University of Singapore, and representatives of the Commission services, notably the Directorate-General for International Partnerships. The Regional Vaccine Manufacturing Collaborative participated as an observer.
The discussions provided an opportunity for regional entities at different stages of development of their pooled procurement mechanisms for an in-depth exchange of practical experiences and to identify common challenges and solutions.
DG HERA Director-General Florika Fink-Hooijer underlined the importance of closer cooperation with partners beyond the European Union, recalling that health threats do not stop at borders and that procurement preparedness needs to be strengthened in “peacetime” to ensure faster, more equitable access during crises.
Tim Nguyen, Head of Medical Countermeasures Unit in the WHO Department for Epidemic and Pandemic Threat Management, spoke of the critical role regional entities play in the promotion of equitable access to vaccines, diagnostics, therapeutics and other relevant health products during epidemics and pandemics. He emphasized that regional mechanisms currently cover only about half of the world’s countries, leaving about 100 countries, areas and territories without coverage and hence making global coordination indispensable so as not to leave anyone behind.
Santiago Cornejo, Executive Manager of PAHO’s Regional Revolving Funds, stressed the importance of having a shared understanding of the meaning of ‘equity’ in the context of access to emergency medical countermeasures and allocation considerations to advance global epidemic and pandemic preparedness efforts.
The workshop is an activity under the technical priority areas of the i-MCM-Net Secretariat, which convenes multisectoral stakeholders to promote the timely and equitable access to medical countermeasures during health emergencies until the WHO Pandemic Agreement enters into force. It also supports the implementation of the European Commission’s Medical Countermeasures Strategy, which sets out a comprehensive, end-to-end approach, from threat identification and research through to manufacturing, procurement and deployment.
Discussions focused on the design and objectives of pooled procurement mechanisms during preparedness, lessons learned from crisis procurement during the COVID-19 pandemic and mpox epidemic, and how coordination among regions could be strengthened during preparedness and emergencies.
The workshop concluded with a forward-looking discussion on continued cooperation, including potential follow-up exchanges in 2026 and the development of a working document capturing shared lessons and possible principles for collaboration.