We appreciate the opportunity to offer comments on the draft PABS annex text .
Some preliminary comments:
Affordability of Access: The current draft mentions “providing access to products” and “rapid access” but crucially omits an affordability requirement. We urge the inclusion of a clear stipulation that “providing access” (where it does not refer to donations) must require affordable pricing.
Binding Benefit Sharing Commitments: The inclusion of the phrase “as mutually agreed” in relation to benefits, in particular technology transfer, undermines the legally binding nature of critical benefit-sharing commitments. This term should be reconsidered to ensure technology transfer remains a firm and binding commitment within the annex.
Licences to manufacturers: Section C 3(d) mentions granting non-exclusive licenses to manufacturers in developing countries. Note however that during the COVID-19 pandemic some of the manufacturers that were seeking licenses to produce and supply developing countries were actually based in high income countries.
Transparency and Stakeholder Inclusion: We regret that the consultation process has so far not resulted in an invitation to relevant stakeholders to observe the negotiations. This lack of transparency is detrimental to both the negotiation process and the credibility of the WHO. We thank those member states that supported the proposal for greater openness of negotiations. It would be helpful to know which member states are not comfortable with us observing their work so we can reach out to them.
This statement has been uploaded to the WHO website here, along with statements from other Relevant Stakeholders.
Ellen ‘t Hoen, LLM PhD, is a lawyer and public health advocate with over 30 years of experience working on pharmaceutical and intellectual property policies.