We are members of the World Health Organization (WHO) team that just announced its guidelines for the timely and equitable global sharing of pathogen genome data (see go.nature.com/3tbkchp). As we learnt during the COVID-19 pandemic, sharing genomic data is an important step that is in everyone’s mutual interest.
Worldwide access to genomic sequences and large-scale analyses will arm us against infectious-disease threats by advancing the development of new diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines. The falling costs and enhanced speed and quality of whole-genome sequencing make this a realistic goal.
Timely sharing of high-quality pathogen genome data is crucial — for example, for stakeholders who require rapid local analysis to inform public-health decisions. The WHO principles will also encourage scientific collaboration and support the career development of scientists in all countries.
Data access, equity and capacity development must be considered alongside each other, along with local and contextual factors, ethics regulations and national and international laws. Submitters of pre-publication data should be explicit about whether they expect to retain any involvement in the use of the data, and different options should be available to help accommodate their needs.
