79th WHA Individual Statements
Recent outbreaks of Hantavirus, and Ebola Virus show us that biosamples and sequences are made available for research and innovation but without appropriate Access and Benefit sharing contracts with the researchers and industries. This makes equitable access to vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics are dependent on the good will of the pharmaceutical companies. WHO and Member States cannot allow such irregular practices to continue, at the very least with regard to Pathogens with Pandemic Potential.
We welcome the proposal to extend the negotiations of the IGWG. The PABS Annex must operationalise Article 12 by requiring:
(1)Predictable and equitable access to VTDs before PHEICs and Pandemics are declared, including through diversified manufacturing
(2)Registration of all recipients of pathogen samples and sequence information.
(4)Signing of access and benefit sharing agreement at the time of access to PABS resources.
(5)Prevention of biopiracy and respect for the CBD and Nagoya Principles.