Hi,
If you thought the all-encompassing Pandemic Agreement negotiations were complex, brace for the negotiations on the Pathogen Access Benefits Sharing System at WHO. They are technical, commercial and political.
Cyber bio-security, access agreements, settlement of disputes, these just are some of the dominant themes emerging from our analysis of how countries conceive of the WHO PABS System.
In today’s edition we examine more than a dozen submissions from WHO member states and synthesize an overall picture for you on the common features across these proposals that will be discussed in the forthcoming negotiations.
I had fun working on this! We are indisputably, in nerd territory. This is a really cool edition. I wouldn’t miss it if you are tracking this stuff.
We are planning on workshopping the PABS discussions on the sidelines of the World Health Summit in Berlin next month. Drop us an email (genevahealtfiles@gmail.com) if you wish to join. Details soon!
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More later.
Best,
Priti
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I. GHF ANALYSIS
Developing Countries Outline Contours of the Pathogen Access Benefits Sharing System for Global Health
Access Agreements, Cyber Bio-Security, Binding Contracts Linking Access to Benefits, Dispute Settlement: features of submissions by developing countries.
Scores of WHO member states have put forth their visions for a new Pathogen Access Benefits Sharing System at the World Health Organization – a topic that will be negotiated over the coming months beginning later this month. The successful conclusion of these negotiations on the PABS – an annex to the new Pandemic Agreement, holds the key for the eventual entry into force of the instrument that would govern prevention, preparedness and response to pandemics.
There have been as many as 17 submissions to the Intergovernmental Working Group that will meet during 15-19 September to consider an outline of the PABS annex. The submissions include individual countries, and three blocs such as the Africa Group, the EU and the Group of Equity with 30+ developing countries. So in effect, these reflect proposals from more than a 100 countries.
In this story we closely examine the proposals put forth by countries and methodically analyse emerging and recurring features across these submissions.
The proposals are specifically from: Africa Group; Australia, the United Kingdom, Norway, Canada, and New Zealand; Bangladesh; Brazil; Central African Republic; China; Colombia; European Union; Group for Equity; Indonesia; Japan; Malaysia; Russia; South Africa; Switzerland; Tunisia and Türkiye. (India has not made a submission yet)
The submissions are characterized by a common structure including elements such as objective; scope; definitions or use of terms; on terms and conditions for access; the sharing of benefits; the governance structure including describing the role for WHO, and the Conference of Parties'; even rules for exports; allocation and distribution of medical products during pandemics and Public Health Emergencies of International Concern (PHEICs). In addition, some countries have also fleshed out model agreements on terms of access, and contracts to enable standard transfer agreements both biological samples and digital information.
The proposals, particularly from developing countries, read like a determined contest to wrest equity deliverables during health emergencies. The level of detail in these early stages show that some of the most fleshed out proposals have come from developing countries.
What is also striking is underlying geopolitical concerns, with a fair amount of emphasis on bio-security measures, most notably from Russia, among others. This might indicate both: an effort to future-proof the instrument to make it watertight against rogue, political use; and also also reveal a fair level of mistrust in the system itself.
We reported earlier that preliminary expectations are that a draft annex will be ready by December 2025, for text negotiations to begin early 2026. Countries must conclude negotiations by mid-April 2026 for a hoped-for adoption in May 2026 at the World Health Organization.
It is already becoming apparent that this promises to be one of the most significant negotiations in any international forum given the areas it will touch upon. There are political, commercial and technical implications on public health, technical standards, digital governance, and biomedical research & development.
