India calls for equitable pathogen access and benefit sharing at the UN
India used a pandemic-preparedness meeting in New York to argue for sustained health-system investment and a fair mechanism under the WHO Pandemic Agreement.
India has called for a fair Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing system under the WHO Pandemic Agreement during a United Nations high-level meeting in New York.
Union Health Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava also argued for sustained investment in resilient health systems. The ministry's statement says India supplied 300 million vaccine doses to about 100 countries and two UN entities during the COVID-19 period and provided medical assistance to more than 150 countries.
Why it matters
Rules for sharing pathogen samples and the resulting vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics will influence how quickly countries cooperate and how equitably the benefits of that cooperation are distributed during a future emergency.
SCULTRA point of view
The decisive issue is the final mechanism: who contributes, who receives access, how obligations are enforced and whether national preparedness claims are supported by transparent capacity and financing data.
Limitations
This is an official account of diplomatic remarks, not an independent assessment of India's readiness. It provides no current capacity benchmarks or funding figures, and negotiations on the benefit-sharing annex remain unresolved.
Source: Press Information Bureau / Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, 26 September 2026.