[EXCLUSIVE] Game On: Africa Group Vs The EU. Competing Models For The Pathogen Access Benefit Sharing System

Readers,

I promised myself I will not use football metaphors (my allegiance is to cricket). However, when a WHO official this week brought up Trump’s red card FIFA controversy in a corridor chat, I found my excuse.

Global health is not insulated from sports (think of all the greenwashing of corruption-dyed sports bodies in health).

One inevitably also looks at the very political football World Cup this season, through the lens of global health (who is playing: global health champion, renegade, coloniser and the likes).

The ongoing global health negotiations also lend themselves to this metaphor.

Anyone who rooted for Cape Verde at the World Cup, knows the significance of one country, one vote at the WHO. In the real world, small countries can punch above their weight, but ultimately the winner takes it all - as per the prevailing laws of the jungle.

In today’s edition, we bring you the emerging story of two competing models for a new Pathogen Access Benefit Sharing System. In health negotiations, well-wishers remind us that this is not a zero-sum game. Everyone’s got to win.

The PABS negotiations at the WHO conclude today, and we will update this edition as required.

Also want to reiterate, we have no skin in the game. We do not take sides. We report what we see, but are not blind to the politics. (Given the high stakes in these negotiations, we are increasingly being talked down to. It is useless and exhausting.)

It is great that our work is of value to our readers. Sharing or forwarding our work is flattering, but it hits us where it hurts most. If you are an institution, or a even reader who spends more on a single meal than our monthly subscription, reassess the importance of independent journalism in a field riddled with commercial and political interests. You can help us report these closed-door negotiations that are both, time and resource intensive. Support our work. We rely on our readers who value news they can use. By becoming a paying subscriber you contribute towards greater accountability in global health.

Thank you for your engagement.

Best,

Priti

Priti Patnaik, Founder & Publisher, Geneva Health Files

Feel free to write to us: genevahealthfiles@gmail.com ; Find us on BlueSky, Instagram and Linkedin.

Presenting our weekly in-depth analysis on global health that captures the big picture and the nuances like no one else does. This is an exclusive edition for our subscribers.

I. EXCLUSIVE: GHF ANALYSIS

By Priti Patnaik & Anjan Rosario

The complex, but political negotiations on a new Pathogen Access Benefit Sharing system at the WHO, may have got a much-needed shot in the arm this week.

The Intergovernmental Working Group set up to negotiate the PABS mechanism, reviewed two models this week, on how such a system can be structured. It appears to have revitalised these technical negotiations to a small extent. The models, each proposed by developed and developing countries separately, do not have much in common, and run on different assumptions and scale. And yet, in their differences, they may provide fuel towards these negotiations.

Both the models were formal submissions to the IGWG and were considered at a plenary session on July 15^th. One is a “Federated Model” of accessing PABS materials and sequence information, submitted by the Africa Group. The second, is a submission by the EU on a hybrid model for PABS – one that has been informally discussed over the last few months, but it was the first time that it was owned and presented by the bloc, sources said.

In this story, we discuss these different models, but also bring you the back story. (We are unable to publish the versions of the documents we received, owing to the sensitivity and the fluidity in these discussions.)

In addition, we also bring you quick insights on the politics and the process during this latest round of negotiations.

We were onsite for large parts during this two-week meeting, and spoke to a range of delegations, experts, and officials.

We try to present key takeaways and concise insights based on numerous interviews. We also reviewed multiple documents that were circulated during this meeting including on terms of references for sequence databases, for labs and an outline of PABS contracts.