WHO extends pandemic treaty talks

World Health Organization member states returned to Geneva on Monday, April 27, for an extra week of talks on the last unfinished piece of the pandemic agreement. (who.int) (rfi.fr) That missing piece is the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing annex, usually shortened to PABS. It is meant to set the rules for how countries share virus samples and genetic sequence data, and what they get back in vaccines, medicines, funding or technology. (who.int 1) (who.int 2) The World Health Organization said on March 28 that member states agreed to extend negotiations and resume them in late April, ahead of the World Health Assembly in May 2026. The broader pandemic agreement was adopted in 2025, but it cannot move to signature and ratification until the annex is settled and adopted too. (who.int 1) (who.int 2) The central dispute is whether pathogen samples and sequence data should be shared under one binding set of rules or under a split system with fewer obligations up front. Developing countries have pushed for standard contracts and clearer benefit-sharing duties before they hand over materials that could be used to make profitable products. (healthpolicy-watch.news 1) (healthpolicy-watch.news 2) Health Policy Watch reported that developed countries recently floated a “hybrid” model that would put terms and conditions on one category of material but not on another. Third World Network told the outlet that the proposal would let samples and sequence information flow first while benefit-sharing is negotiated later with manufacturers. (healthpolicy-watch.news) The argument comes from the Covid-19 experience, when many lower-income countries said they shared data quickly but waited far longer for doses. The PABS annex is supposed to prevent a repeat by tying access to pathogens more directly to access to the products made from them. (news.un.org) (who.int) The timing is awkward because the science keeps moving while the rules are still unsettled. University of Nebraska-Lincoln researchers said Monday that an experimental H5N1 vaccine strategy protected mice and dairy calves in early tests, underscoring how fast pathogen samples can be turned into candidate countermeasures. (news.unl.edu) (journalstar.com) The World Health Organization has said the annex also needs rules on contracts, transparency and governance so the system operates in the public interest. Those details are now compressed into a five-day session running through May 1 in Geneva. (who.int) (changeflow.com) If negotiators fail again this week, the World Health Assembly will face the same problem it had last month: a pandemic agreement with its most contested operating rules still unfinished. (who.int) (rfi.fr)