Kenya, African leaders reject free use of pathogen data by developed states

Pathogen data is a national asset, yet the current global health architecture operates as a predominantly exploitative market [Courtesy]

The World Health Organisation’s pandemic agreement remains stalled in Geneva, as Kenya and African leaders, drawing hard lessons from the HIV and Covid-19 crises, reject a system that treats their genetic data as a free commodity.

With negotiations over the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) system deadlocked, civil society groups are warning that the continent is done with the ‘days of charity’ and demands a legally binding system.