Why in the news?
After over three years and 13 rounds of meetings, countries that are part of the World Health Organization (WHO) have agreed on steps to help stop, get ready for, and deal with future pandemics.
What are the key provisions of the WHO Pandemic Agreement, and how do they aim to prevent future pandemics?
- Protection of Healthcare Workers: Countries have committed to better protection and support for healthcare workers during pandemics. Eg: Ensuring adequate PPE, mental health support, and fair compensation during crisis response.
- Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing System (PABS): A system is established to ensure that countries sharing pathogen samples or genome sequences are guaranteed access to diagnostics, treatments, and vaccines developed from them. Eg: If an African country shares a new virus strain, it will receive vaccines developed using that strain.
- Equitable Distribution Commitments by Pharma Companies: Pharmaceutical companies have agreed to donate 10% of pandemic-related products to WHO and provide another 10% at affordable prices. Eg: During a future pandemic, WHO can allocate donated vaccine doses to low-income countries.
- Technology Transfer Under Mutually Agreed Terms: Countries must promote and facilitate vaccine technology and know-how transfer under fair conditions (not just voluntary). Eg: mRNA vaccine technology being transferred to a developing country to scale up local production.
- Promotion of Local Manufacturing Capacity: The treaty encourages countries to build domestic capabilities to manufacture diagnostics, vaccines, and treatments. Eg: WHO supporting the setup of vaccine production hubs in South America and Africa.
Why did developed and developing countries have differing priorities during the negotiations?
| Key Issue | Developing Countries’ Perspective | Developed Countries’ Perspective | Example |
| Access vs. Control Over Resources | Sought equitable access to vaccines, diagnostics, and treatments developed from shared pathogen data. | Focused on retaining control over innovations and resources. | India sought vaccine access in return for sharing virus data; EU hesitated on binding terms. |
| Technology Transfer vs. IP Rights | Demanded mandatory tech transfer to build local manufacturing capacity. | Preferred voluntary sharing; feared loss of profit and intellectual property rights. | African nations pushed for mRNA tech; pharma firms resisted to protect patents. |
| Historical Inequities & Trust Deficit | Skeptical due to past incidents like vaccine hoarding; demanded enforceable commitments. | Reluctant to agree to binding mechanisms fearing risks to their own supply chains. | U.S. and EU pre-booked vaccines during COVID-19, delaying access for African countries. |
How does the pathogen access and benefit-sharing system ensure equitable access to vaccines and treatments for developing countries?
- Guaranteed Access to Medical Countermeasures: Countries that share pathogen samples and genome data are guaranteed access to the diagnostics, vaccines, or treatments developed from them. Eg: If Nigeria shares Ebola virus samples, it will receive vaccines or treatments developed from those samples.
- Donation and Affordable Pricing Commitments: Pharmaceutical companies have agreed to donate 10% of their production to WHO and offer another 10% at affordable prices to low- and middle-income countries. Eg: During a future pandemic, India or Kenya would receive a share of vaccines even if they can’t pay market rates.
- Legally Binding Mechanism for Fair Distribution: The system is designed to move beyond goodwill by creating structured and fair distribution frameworks, preventing vaccine hoarding. Eg: Unlike COVID-19, where Africa was left behind, the new system mandates early and fair distribution.
What commitments have pharma companies made on vaccine sharing, and how does it address COVID-19 inequities?
- Production-Based Donation Quota: Pharma companies have committed to donate 10% of their total vaccine production to WHO. Eg: If a company like Pfizer produces 1 billion doses during a future pandemic, 100 million doses must be donated for global distribution.
- Affordable Pricing for Developing Countries: Companies will offer an additional 10% of vaccines at affordable prices to ensure access for low- and middle-income countries. Eg: Countries like Bangladesh or Ethiopia could buy vaccines at reduced prices instead of being priced out like during early COVID-19 waves.
- Prevents Vaccine Hoarding by Rich Nations: By ensuring early and guaranteed supply to WHO, this system prevents stockpiling by high-income countries as seen in COVID-19. Eg: Unlike the situation where Europe secured vaccines ahead of Africa, all regions will get equitable shares based on need.
Who facilitates the technology transfer for vaccine production, and under what terms will it occur?
- Facilitated by Countries Under WHO Framework: Technology transfer will be facilitated by countries through the WHO, promoting collaboration and capacity building in developing nations. Eg: India can partner with African nations to help build local vaccine production units using WHO-coordinated support.
- Occurs on Mutually Agreed Terms (Not Voluntary): Technology sharing will happen on “mutually agreed terms”, not just voluntary basis, ensuring fair negotiations between parties. Eg: A pharma firm like Moderna will negotiate terms with countries like Indonesia to share mRNA vaccine tech under WHO oversight.
Way forward:
- Strengthen Global Compliance and Monitoring: Establish an independent WHO-led mechanism to ensure countries and pharma companies adhere to commitments on access, donations, and tech transfer.
- Invest in Regional Manufacturing Hubs: Support the creation of regional facilities for vaccine and diagnostic production in developing countries to reduce dependency and enhance preparedness.
Mains PYQ:
[UPSC 2020] Critically examine the role of WHO in providing global health security during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Linkage: The role of the World Health Organization in global health security, which is the very organization that finalized the Pandemic Agreement encompassing the pathogen access and benefit-sharing system. The experiences and lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly regarding equitable access to vaccines, heavily influenced the negotiations for this agreement.
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