SC Statement to IGWG 9, 10 November 2026
Statement by the South Centre to the Open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group on the WHO Pandemic Agreement, Ninth Session (IGWG9)
10 November 2026
How can governments reach an agreement in the WHO on a system for access and benefit sharing from pathogen material and digital sequence information that is equitable and effective?
In our statement to IGWG9, we offer suggestions on the design of PABS. Parties should share pathogen materials and sequence information primarily through the PABS system, creating legal certainty on the terms for access and for benefit sharing. Common rules should apply, with rapid access and benefit sharing on an equal footing, as Article 12 requires.
Read the full statement:
This article was tagged: Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS), Digital Sequence Information (DSI), Global Health, Health, Inter-Governmental Working Group (IGWG), Intergovernmental Working Group on the WHO Pandemic Agreement (IGWG), Pandemic, Pandemic Agreement, Pandemics, Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS), Public Health, World Health Organization (WHO)
