The following story was updated on September 20, 2025 after the conclusion of the discussions on the 19th in Geneva. See key takeaways below.

Hi,

In this edition we bring you an update on the discussions on the Pathogen Access Benefit Sharing System, underway in Geneva this week.

As per our established practice, we also share excerpts of statements made by countries and stakeholders that give a flavor of priorities in these closed door discussions.

We are having a workshop on the state of play of the PABS discussions on the sidelines of the World Health Summit in Berlin next month. Register here, and drop us an email (genevahealtfiles@gmail.com) if you wish to join. See details below.

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More later.

Best,

Priti

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I. GHF ANALYSIS

Countries Kick Off Talks At WHO on Pathogen Access Benefit Sharing, Encounter Practical, Ideological & Technical Questions

Priti Patnaik & Nishant Sirohi

This is the real deal. Negotiating a new system that will deliver real-time access to medical products during health emergencies, has been the focus of countries over the last five years following the COVID-19 pandemic.

WHO member states gathered in Geneva this week, for the first meeting of the Intergovernmental Working Group that has begun work on a new system for Pathogen Access and Benefits Sharing (PABS). The meeting is considered a draft outline for the PABS annex. The Annex is a part of the new Pandemic Agreement. Many countries see the PABS system not as not merely technical, but as “the operational backbone” of the agreement, given also its linkages to other provisions to ensure equity in preparedness, prevention and response to health emergencies.

Already, some diplomats are of the view that these discussions may be twice as difficult as the treaty negotiations which were often contentious, and political with sharp divergences between countries. “There is no half way here. We have to deliver on the obligations. But there are big differences in the expectations from the PABS system,” a developed country negotiator told us this week.

At the conclusion of the meeting, it was decided that relevant stakeholders would be able to observe the proceedings of the IGWG in the coming weeks - on a pilot basis. Countries also pushed for a draft annex to be ready by November 2025 to begin negotiations.

For this story, we were onsite at WHO, and spoke with numerous negotiators and experts to understand the direction of these closed door proceedings.