WHO Members Advance Talks on Pathogen Sharing Framework to Strengthen Future Pandemic Response.
Geneva:
Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) have made further progress in negotiations on the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing (PABS) annex, a key element of the proposed WHO Pandemic Agreement aimed at improving global preparedness for future health emergencies.
The seventh meeting of the Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) on the Pandemic Agreement concluded in Geneva after two weeks of discussions, with countries reaffirming their commitment to creating a system that enables rapid sharing of pathogens with pandemic potential while ensuring fair and equitable access to benefits resulting from their use.
The proposed PABS framework seeks to balance two critical priorities: enabling scientists and laboratories worldwide to quickly share information and samples of dangerous pathogens, and ensuring that countries providing those resources receive fair access to vaccines, diagnostics, therapeutics and other medical tools developed from them.
During the latest negotiations, Member States further streamlined the draft text while continuing consultations on unresolved technical and political issues. Discussions focused on several major components of the system, including contractual arrangements, the organisation of laboratory networks involved in pathogen sharing, handling of pathogen sequence information, and the definition and distribution of benefits arising from research and development.
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus praised countries for maintaining dialogue and cooperation despite remaining differences.
“While differences remain, those differences can be bridged if we keep our shared goal in sight: a world where pathogens and scientific information are shared rapidly, and the benefits they generate are shared fairly and equitably,” he said.
He stressed that completing the PABS framework was urgent, noting that future pandemics could emerge at any time and would require swift international cooperation.
IGWG Bureau Co-Chair Ambassador Tovar da Silva Nunes of Brazil said negotiations had achieved meaningful progress on some of the most complex aspects of the annex. He acknowledged that challenges remained but said countries now had a clearer path towards completing the agreement.
Another IGWG Bureau Co-Chair, Matthew Harpur, said the progress reflected a shared commitment to building an effective and equitable system that would strengthen global pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.
The IGWG is scheduled to hold its eighth meeting from September 14 to 18, 2026, to continue efforts towards finalising the annex.
The completion of the PABS annex is considered a crucial step before countries can move towards signing and ratifying the WHO Pandemic Agreement, which was adopted by the World Health Assembly in May 2025. The agreement aims to strengthen international cooperation and improve the world’s ability to prevent, prepare for and respond to future pandemics.
