AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) today circulated a legal brief, submitted jointly by AHF Brasil and Third World Network (TWN) and signed by 11 legal experts, concluding that the “hybrid model” under discussion for the World Health Organization Pandemic Agreement’s Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) Annex is incompatible with what countries have already agreed.

Background

During COVID-19, countries shared pathogen samples and genetic sequences with the world within days. Yet people in the Global South waited months, and in many places, years for life-saving tests, vaccines, and treatments. The WHO Pandemic Agreement was adopted to prevent such unacceptable inequity from repeating itself. Its PABS system rests on a simple bargain: those who benefit from pathogen samples and genetic sequence information shared by countries must give back in medical products, the sharing of technology and know-how, and financial contributions.

Governments are now negotiating the Annex, which is meant to turn this bargain into binding rules. But rich countries are fighting tooth and nail to weaken accountability by backing a European-endorsed “hybrid model” that would let companies take pathogens and data first and decide later, or never, whether to give anything back. Access without guaranteed benefits is not a compromise. It is a repeat of COVID-19.

What the Brief Says

Signed by 11 legal experts from various regions, the brief tests the hybrid model against Article 12 of the Pandemic Agreement, which was adopted by consensus, and finds it falls short in four ways:

  • No certainty on benefits. Article 12 requires clear, legally certain terms. Under the hybrid model’s “green light,” users get access with no benefit-sharing conditions. Under the “orange light,” they get access by promising to sign a contract later, one that doesn’t yet exist and whose terms are undecided. A promise to agree later is not a guarantee.

  • Access and benefits are split apart. Article 12 treats access and benefit sharing as one bargain, on an equal footing. The hybrid model separates them.

  • No loophole. Article 12 allows extra elements to strengthen the system, not to weaken the obligations already agreed.

  • Anonymous data access creates risks. Article 12 requires open access to data together with traceability. If users can access sequence data anonymously, benefit-sharing obligations cannot be enforced, and biosafety and biosecurity risks cannot be properly addressed.

“Countries have already agreed on the rules in Article 12,” said Dr. Jorge Saavedra, Executive Director of the AHF Global Public Health Institute. “And an Annex that does not operationalize equity with accountability is incompatible with what has been agreed. Eleven legal experts from around the world have reached the same conclusion, and countries should be quick to reject this damaging proposal.”

The authors urge negotiators to remove the green and orange routes and focus on workable solutions: user registration, traceability, and standard contracts that clearly define benefit-sharing obligations.

WHO Secretariat Has Not Posted Legal Brief on Official Website

The WHO Secretariat has not posted the legal brief submitted on the proposed hybrid model for the PABS Annex on its website alongside other stakeholder comments. The Secretariat also has not posted a statement from the South Centre, which also concludes that the hybrid model is not viable.

The omissions raise concerns that the Secretariat is bringing only some stakeholder comments to delegates’ attention through official posting on its website.

“Considering that the process is already marked by its lack of transparency, the Secretariat is certainly not doing itself any favors by selectively excluding valuable analysis from consideration,” said Guilherme Faviero, attorney and stakeholder representative for AHF Brasil.

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the world’s largest HIV/AIDS healthcare organization, provides cutting-edge medicine and advocacy to more than 3.3 million people across 50 countries, including the U.S. and in Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region, and Eastern Europe. In January 2025, AHF received the MLK, Jr. Social Justice Award, The King Center’s highest recognition for an organization leading work in the social justice arena. To learn more about AHF, visit us online at AIDShealth.org, find us on Facebook, and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok.

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