Countries Advance Talks on WHO Pandemic Agreement Annex for Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing.
Progress marks key milestone toward global pandemic preparedness framework.
Geneva:
In a significant move toward strengthening global health security, Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) have begun detailed discussions on the proposed draft text of the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing (PABS) system — a key annex to the WHO Pandemic Agreement. The discussions took place during the Third Meeting of the Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) on 3–7 November in Geneva.
The PABS system forms a central part of the global Pandemic Agreement, which was adopted earlier in 2025 to enhance the world’s ability to prevent, detect, and respond to future pandemics. Its main goal is to ensure that countries can rapidly share information and materials related to pathogens with pandemic potential, while guaranteeing fair and equitable access to the benefits derived from such resources — including diagnostics, treatments, and vaccines.
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus commended the progress made by Member States in developing the annex. “I thank Member States for their vital efforts to negotiate the first draft of the PABS annex and commend them on the progress made in finding shared positions and solutions to the shared risks and challenges posed by future pandemics,” Dr Tedros said. “Solidarity is our best immunity. Finalizing the Pandemic Agreement, through a commitment to multilateral action, is our collective promise to protect humanity.”
The draft PABS annex translates into practice the commitments outlined in Article 12 of the Pandemic Agreement, which focuses on equitable access to life-saving tools during global health emergencies. The proposed framework emphasizes both rapid sharing of pathogen data and fair distribution of benefits, ensuring that low- and middle-income countries have timely access to vaccines and treatments.
Ambassador Tovar da Silva Nunes of Brazil, co-chair of the IGWG Bureau, highlighted the constructive spirit of the negotiations. “Difficult decisions on making the world safer from the threat of future pandemics require difficult conversations. This week, WHO Member States have shown they are capable of those. By considering complex issues head-on, these negotiations are ensuring that future pandemic responses will be fair, timely and grounded in solidarity,” he said. “Seeing the Member States’ disposition to tackle these issues, I am optimistic that we will deliver a finalized annex to the World Health Assembly for adoption in May 2026.”
Fellow co-chair Mr Matthew Harpur of the United Kingdom echoed this optimism, noting, “Countries across the world this week again showed their commitment to making sure we, collectively, are better protected from future pandemics by constructively engaging on making progress in these negotiations. We look forward to further discussions in December.”
Throughout the week, IGWG members also consulted with stakeholders from civil society, academia, and the private sector to incorporate diverse perspectives into the draft.
Once finalized, the PABS annex will be submitted to the Seventy-ninth World Health Assembly in 2026 for consideration. Following adoption, individual countries will begin their national approval processes, paving the way for a new era of global cooperation in pandemic prevention and response.
