Countries risk sharing pathogens and data without benefits, say civil society groups

At least seven organisations representing civil society and patient voices from India are part of a coalition of 94, mostly from the Global South, that have red-flagged a proposal for Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing (PABS) being internationally negotiated, before it becomes part of the Pandemic Agreement.

In a joint letter to representatives of World Health Organization (WHO) member States, the organisations cautioned that PABS, in its present form, had “insufficient protections for equitable benefit-sharing,” and have called to revise the proposal.

Gopal Dabade of the Drug Action Forum (Karnataka (DAF-K)) told businessline, countries provide pathogen samples or genetic sequences of viruses to a global pool, for example, enabling other countries and companies to develop vaccines or diagnostics to tackle the illness. Benefit-sharing involves an equitable system that would enable countries providing the pathogens, to get the vaccines and therapeutics needed by them to tackle the illness, he said. DAF-K is signatory to the letter, and others from India include All India Drug Action Network, Blue Circle Diabetes Foundation and Low Cost Standard Therapeutics. Other international organisations include, People’s Health Movement, Oxfam, Third World Network and Health Action International.

The joint letter comes against the backdrop of the 11th session of the Inter-governmental Negotiating Body (INB) on the Pandemic Instrument that is underway in Geneva. Having reviewed the latest proposal submitted by the Bureau of the INB, the groups said the streamlined approach to the PABS text “primarily serves the interests of developed countries, incorporating language proposed by the European Union while disregarding proposals from the Group of Equity and the Africa Group.”

The letter said, “We understand that the Bureau is pressing for further streamlining of the Article 12 text with the goal of concluding negotiations by December 2024. In pursuit of this objective, the Bureau has alarmingly stripped Article 12 of most of the meaningful benefits that should stem from the sharing of pathogen materials and sequence information. The only guaranteed benefit in the Bureau’s proposal is a minimal donation by a manufacturer of 5per cent of vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics (VTDs) during a pandemic emergency — an infrequent occurrence.”

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The coalition defends a PABS System with a mechanism governed by the WHO for sharing benefits derived from the use of biological resources in a way that is fair and equitable. “This is particularly relevant in light of historical injustices where developed countries have often appropriated genetic resources from the Global South without adequate compensation or benefit-sharing,” the letter alleged, adding that the effectiveness of the PABS System hinges on its governance being independent, accountable, and free from conflicts of interest.

Outlining critical concerns, the letter said, the current text offers only a minimal commitment from manufacturers (at 5 per cent), far below the 20 per cent originally proposed by the Africa Group. The proposal includes loopholes that allow manufacturers to sidestep obligations to reserve VTDs for WHO or for vulnerable countries. “The text does not include enforceable terms for accessing pathogen materials and digital sequences or ensuring fair benefit-sharing, undermining international commitments under frameworks such as the Nagoya Protocol and the Convention on Biological Diversity,” the letter said. Besides, it reinforces the very inequities that the Pandemic Instrument seeks to address, disregarding the lessons learned from Covid-19 and other recent global health crises, the letter said.

Calling for a revision of the proposal, the coalition said, “Without these changes, the PABS System risks becoming yet another mechanism that entrenches global disparities in access to critical healthcare resources during pandemics.”