The World Health Organization (WHO) negotiations on the world’s first Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing (PABS) system resumed in Geneva on Tuesday – with only two more weeks of formal negotiations left before the May deadline.

Symbolically, this week’s talks resumed on the first anniversary of US President Donald Trump’s announcement that his country would no longer be part of the WHO, and amid a flurry of US bilateral agreements with African countries that exchange health aid for access to pathogen information – posing a direct challenge to the PABS system being negotiated.

Over the next three days, WHO member states will hold a series of informal and formal talks focusing mainly on the scope and objectives of the PABS system, use of terms and governance issues.

Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, WHO Assistant Director-General for Health Emergencies, told the meeting at its start on Tuesday that the negotiations are a priority for WHO.

“In an ever-divided world, we are guardians of public health, and we need to protect it from politicisation,” said Ihekweazu.

“The future of multilateralism depends on the very discussions you have in this room over the next few months. Let the determination that led you to adopting the [Pandemic] Agreement see you through this week successfully.”

Crunch time

While acknowledging that divergent views were still evident in the informal meetings held over the past few weeks, “I do see a lot of positive movement that I think we can be very proud of”, he added.

“It’s no secret that crunch time has started, and before we know it, the [World Health Assembly] will be upon us. After this week concludes, you will be left with around two weeks of formal meetings. Please use every minute and use the informal period to iron out the differences that persist and come closer together on landing zones.”

A PABS system would set out how to share pathogens and their genetic information, along with any benefits that may arise from their use, including the development of vaccines and medicines. 

Meanwhile, the US has signed 15 MOUs have been signed with African countries – the latest being with Malawi on 14 January. The agreements provide opportunities for US companies to provide logistics, data, and supply-chain support and several have been concluded alongside trade agreements.

The MOUs are the precursor to five-year grants that involve a rapid transfer of responsibility for domestic health programmes from the US to donor countries from year two of the agreement.