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

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.

African states and civil societies are also demanding an equal share of life-saving medical countermeasures during disease outbreaks.

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

Africa is a provider of pathogens, sequence data, and scientific talent.

But some countries and unions in the Global North are against the agreement, and are pushing for ownership of the pathogen data, without benefiting the provider, which are mostly middle income countries.

Country Director for AHF for Kenya Samuel Kinyanjui, noted that Africa, which accounts for up to 20 per cent of the global population, received a mere three percent of Covid-19 vaccines, mostly at the pandemic's tail end.

This is despite the disease having been a public health concern that was spreading across the globe.

During the pandemic, there was hoarding of vaccines, with Kenya, and states across the African continent receiving drugs that had a short shelf life.

This affected the vaccination programme in most states, an issue that further affected breaking the chain of disease transmission, as individuals continued to get admitted, straining the already strained healthcare system.

"The data sharing mechanism cannot be open to be used and abused by anyone; it needs to be a closed system," said Dr Kinyanjui.

According to the official, data from pathogens is intellectual property for the country, and as a result, it is a right for them to demand that they share in the technology, in the treatments, and in the vaccines that are going to come from it.

African negotiators are demanding binding technology transfer to avoid a repeat of the 1990s HIV crisis, where antiretrovirals (ARVs) cost Sh160,000, a month, vastly outstripping local salaries, until technology sharing brought prices down to affordable levels.

Experts maintain that relying strictly on Western production during a crisis is a failed strategy, as global demand will always outstrip supply.

The deadlock in Geneva they say is not just about pathogens, but a clash of vested interests and 'health politics'.

Resilience Action Network Africa (RANA) Executive Director, Aggrey Aluso, urges African nations to claim their health sovereignty rather than waiting for donor-driven mercy.

“We must build a system that is creating an enabling environment for us to respond to other emerging diseases," says Aluso.

He emphasizes that singular focus on Covid-19 caused massive regressions in HIV and TB care across the continent because resilient systems had not been built.

“Our governments will respond only when we show that it is important for us. This space is not innocent. It is laden with a lot of interest, and you do not know who is making the decisions behind the scenes," says Aluso.

As African manufacturing capabilities mature, the region’s advocates are demanding a balanced global relationship rather than an unequal fight.

Additionally AHF Regional Advocacy and Policy Manager for East and West Africa Diana Tibesigwa, drew a firm line in the sand regarding the PABS annex.

"The discussion of equity, accountability, should not be something to question or fight against," she says.

The official adds, "Let us be flexible in sharing the IP. And our voice out there as AHF is that we need equity. We need equity. And we are saying no equity, no agreement".

The Pandemic Agreement, was adopted by the World Health Assembly in May 2025 after three years of negotiation.

The WHO Pandemic Agreement is a legally binding international instrument designed to correct the weaknesses exposed by Covid-19.

Therefore, it cannot be opened for signature until the PABS Annex is completed, and enters into force only after 60 ratifications.

The Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing system (Article 12) governs the equitable sharing of pathogens with pandemic potential and the benefits arising from their use.

Operational details are being negotiated by an Intergovernmental Working Group.

Last week, WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, urges WHO member states to continue approaching the outstanding issues with urgency, warning that the next pandemic is a matter of when, not if.

According to Tedros, the PABS annex is the last piece of the puzzle not only for the Pandemic Agreement, but also for all initiatives WHO and member states have implemented following lessons learned from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The PABS system is intended to ensure, on equal footing, the rapid sharing of pathogens with pandemic potential and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their use, such as vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics.