Hi,
Typical of looming deadlines, calls are getting louder for the swift and fair conclusion of the negotiations on the Pathogen Access and Benefits Sharing system at WHO.
We bring you an initial update on the talks underway in Geneva this week. Find below more than a dozen statements from countries and stakeholders that were made at the meeting, earlier this week.
Watch out for our follow up on the substantive matters in these talks subsequently.
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More soon!
Best,
Priti
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I. IGWG UPDATE
Biodiverse Developing Countries Stake Claim to Global Health Security, Demand Clear Terms to Govern Access to Pathogen Information & Sharing of Benefits
Developing Countries Demand That Solidarity Be Designed into PABS
By Priti Patnaik & Nishant Sirohi
Countries are getting to the meat of the matter in the negotiations on the Pathogen Access Benefit Sharing (PABS) System at WHO, even as positions remain entrenched between the G6+ countries, and effectively the rest.
With less than a dozen negotiating days left, to agree on a new PABS system, WHO member states have gathered in Geneva this week for the deliberations of the fifth meeting of the Intergovernmental Working Group, underway February 9th-14th.
The meeting began with proclamations on the need to reach consensus ahead of the World Health Assembly in May 2026. Many developing countries have also pushed for the inclusion of binding contracts to operationalize the PABS system.
This week, countries are discussing a range of technical matters: from the governance of databases to the obligations on access; on the provisions and triggers to share benefits, to how this system will be governed. Observers say that many of the issues have already been discussed at length both in formal and informal sessions with experts feeding into these deliberations.
“Much of what remains to be done is political,” an expert involved in these discussions told us this week.
In this story, we present statements from member states and non-state actors. As you will see, the interventions are getting more specific as these negotiations close in to the specifics. We are noticing enlivening dynamics between non-state actors and how these contests outside the room are shaping the negotiations inside. We will reporting on this as the week unfolds.
