BRICS Back Constructive Talks on Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing

The New Delhi Declaration, adopted during the ongoing 18th BRICS summit, has called for constructive engagement in negotiations over the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing (PABS) Annex to the World Health Organization's pandemic agreement. The declaration reaffirms the sovereign rights of states over their biological resources, along with their right to legislate and implement national access and benefit-sharing laws.

The pandemic agreement was conceived during the Covid-19 pandemic as a legally binding framework to improve prevention, preparedness and response to future health crises. It was adopted at last year's World Health Assembly, but the PABS Annex remains unresolved and continues to hold up the wider agreement. Member states can approve or ratify the pandemic agreement only once consensus is reached on this annex.

The annex is intended to set out a roadmap for sharing dangerous pathogens and the medicines, diagnostics or vaccines developed from them. Countries have yet to settle whether sharing pathogen samples should be mandatorily tied to sharing the resulting benefits — such as companies reserving a portion of production for free or affordable distribution, or sharing intellectual property with other manufacturers. Some states have argued that mandatory sharing of pathogens, their genetic sequences and related data would erode their ability to negotiate the use of such resources individually.

In the declaration, the BRICS members welcomed deepening cooperation on global health and reiterated their commitment to universal health coverage through resilient, inclusive and people-centred approaches. They stressed that multilateral cooperation in health must be preserved and reinforced, underlining the coordinating role of the WHO — a position of note given the United States' withdrawal from the organisation earlier this year.

The declaration also pressed for coordinated surveillance, information sharing and collective action on public health emergencies. It acknowledged that infectious disease outbreaks, zoonotic threats, antimicrobial resistance and other emergencies cross national borders, and underscored the need for resilient surveillance systems, effective early warning mechanisms and stronger preparedness and response capacities. It welcomed the creation of a dedicated Sub-Working Group to advance the BRICS Integrated Early Warning System for preventing and responding to mass infectious diseases.

Member countries also committed to collaborate on technology and research to end tuberculosis, a target under the Sustainable Development Goals with a 2030 deadline.