The last negotiations on the pandemic treaty revealed a split within the Africa group that some fear would compromise its bargaining position and undermine low- and middle-income countries' solidarity as they again engage in marathon talks this week to reach an agreement ahead of the 77th World Health Assembly.
According to sources close to the talks, a few African countries aligned with the European Union’s proposed text on pathogen access and benefit-sharing, or PABS — a multilateral arrangement that facilitates access to virus samples and genetic sequence data with pandemic potential, and lays out obligations on users to share the benefits with countries through WHO. The benefits include access to health products and monetary contributions.