Centring Equity in Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing

September 2025

Prepared by UAEM North America for the Canadian Government.

Executive Summary
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) Pandemic Agreement includes a framework for a Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) System to regulate how pathogen samples and the associated benefits (e.g. vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics) are shared equitably during public health emergencies. With ongoing negotiations of the Annex, the framework serves as a critical legal and operational tool that will define the implementation details of a new system. As Canadian youth a part of the Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM), we urge Canada to continue to advocate for principles of transparency, equitable access, and meaningful public sector accountability as seen in the recent AUS-UK-NOR-CAN-NZ submission in the shaping of the PABS system.

Canada, a country with over $22 billion allocated to funding world-class public research since 2016 and a commitment to global health equity, has a moral and strategic interest in supporting a PABS system that prioritizes equity, as it is essential to sustaining global cooperation and pandemic preparedness. Canada has a vital opportunity to help shape a system that is transparent, equitable, and effective both in its preparedness and response.

Recommendations
1) Ensure Canada supports pre-pandemic preparedness mechanisms for emergency responses; Canada
should advocate for the inclusion of pre-PHEIC obligations. 
2) Support priority access for origin countries. 
3) Commit to binding equitable access mechanisms by ensuring transparency.