Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) concluded a weeklong round of negotiations on a draft annex for Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing (PABS) – a key component of the WHO Pandemic Agreement.
The fifth meeting of the Intergovernmental Working Group on the WHO Pandemic Agreement (IGWG) – set up by the World Health Assembly (WHA) last year to negotiate the PABS annex-wrapped up over the weekend after productive discussions a few days ago.
To ensure the world can respond swiftly and effectively to future pandemics, countries must be able to rapidly detect pathogens with pandemic potential and share their genetic sequence information and materials. This timely action enables scientists to accelerate the development of essential tools such as diagnostic tests, treatments, and vaccines.
The PABS system is designed to promote equitable access based on public health needs by facilitating the rapid and timely sharing of pathogen materials and genetic sequence data, and on an equal footing, the rapid, timely, fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from these.
Member States will resume negotiations again next month as they advance towards the May deadline, when the outcome of their work will be presented to the WHA.
The WHO Pandemic Agreement was adopted by Member States last year to correct global weaknesses exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic and strengthen international coordination and collaboration. A legally binding international instrument, it is designed to make the world safer and more equitable in the face of future pandemics.
Alongside negotiations on the annex text and dialogues aimed at building consensus, Member States also engaged with relevant stakeholders, including representatives from the private sector, academia, laboratories and sequence information databases.
