Countries Inch Closer on Pathogen Access Benefits Sharing, Devil in the Details [Pandemic Agreement Negotiations]
Newsletter Edition #123 [Treaty Talks]
Hi,
The Pathogen Access Benefits Sharing (PABS) system has often been referred to as the heart of the Pandemic Agreement, with its “promise” for a minimum guaranteed access to medical products during health emergencies.
Given the complexity in the proposed mechanism, countries are basically suggesting, they will work on the “heart” later – because there is not enough time ahead of the May deadline to crunch all the details. But the catch is, the fate of the entire agreement, to an extent, depends on getting PABS right.
In this edition, we also bring you a quick snapshot on the databases that currently host biological information. My colleague Vivek has put this together for our readers.
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Priti
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I. INB13 UPDATE
Countries Inch Closer on Pathogen Access Benefits Sharing, Devil in the Details
By Priti Patnaik
Vivek N D contributed to this article.
WHO member states are getting closer on their positions on the obligations and rights under a proposed new Pathogen Access Benefits Sharing system in the draft Pandemic Agreement.
They have bridged a certain distance relative to previous rounds of negotiations, but the details of how the components of PABS will come together, and how such a mechanism will fit into the bigger legal architecture is much too open at this stage in the talks.
Some developed country diplomats continue to express concerns on fundamental conceptual differences among countries that will need to be tackled in a future workstream to make this into a workable solution.
In this story we look at how some of the text in this provision has evolved, and the concerns surrounding the language on the sharing of benefits. We also discuss matters on tying the entry into force of the Pandemic Agreement with the proposed annex on PABS that is envisaged to be developed under an Intergovernmental Working Group over a likely period of 12 months.
We also bring you a snapshot of the databases that host biological information.
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