Access to Vaccines Treatments and Diagnostics (VTDs)

South Centre Statement to the Open-ended IGWG8, 14 September 2026

Statement by the South Centre to the Open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group on the WHO Pandemic Agreement, Eight Session (IGWG8) 

Geneva, 14 September 2026

Our statement to WHO IGWG8 calls for a Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) system that makes equity enforceable.

The statement urges negotiators to secure:

  • Standard, legally binding contracts with WHO that link access to benefit-sharing commitments.
  • Real-time set-asides and donations of vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics, alongside non-exclusive licensing and transfers of technology and know-how.
  • Monetary contributions from entities that commercialize products or services developed using PABS materials or sequence information.
  • Legal certainty, traceability and accountability.

The South Centre cautions that a “hybrid” architecture offering access through two routes, with benefit-sharing obligations attached to only one, would make benefit sharing a choice for some users, and hence is not a viable proposition.

We also think a federated workbench model discussed in informal negotiations merits further consideration.

For the WHO Pandemic Agreement to deliver on equity, access and benefit sharing must stand on an equal footing.

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SouthViews No. 309, 11 May 2026

No Country Can Cruise Past Collective Responsibility: The Hantavirus Outbreak

By Dr. Viviana Munoz Tellez

The hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius is a vivid reminder of why global health cooperation matters. It is one of many simultaneous outbreaks WHO is responding to, at a time the broader architecture of global health is under growing strain. The WHO faces deep funding shortfalls as some governments retreat from multilateralism. Despite International Health Regulations strengthened in response to COVID-19 and a newly adopted Pandemic Agreement, the system for pathogen access and benefit sharing that it must contain remains unfinished. Every country’s health security depends on global collaboration and solidarity.

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