Attributes and principles of genomic data-sharing platforms supporting surveillance of pathogens with epidemic and pandemic potential

Overview

Sharing pathogen genome data and associated metadata is critical for preventing, detecting, and responding to epidemics and pandemics at national and international levels, and is also important for monitoring and responding to endemic diseases. WHO encourages timely sharing of pathogen genome data on publicly accessible platforms according to the guiding principles published in 2022. Pathogen genomic data repositories are a keystone of data-sharing. However, different repositories may differ in several important features such as data types and metadata accepted, data access policies, and data curation practices. This document describes attributes and operational principles of pathogen genomic data-sharing platforms to support effective, timely and equitable sharing of genomic data from pathogens with epidemic and pandemic potential. Collectively, these attributes form a comprehensive foundation spanning the technical, governance, and ethical dimensions of pathogen genomic data-sharing platforms, enabling data producers and users to advocate for the implementation of the operational principles. This can, in turn, inform the best-practice development of existing and future platforms, and help steer donor investments towards sustainable funding for platforms that support effective, timely and equitable data-sharing.