WHO pandemic treaty delayed

WHO member states left Geneva this week without finishing the final piece of the organization’s pandemic agreement, extending a negotiation that was supposed to clear the accord for signature after its adoption last year. The unresolved issue is a technical but politically charged annex on pathogen access and benefit sharing, known as PABS, which governs how countries share samples of dangerous pathogens and how benefits such as vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics are distributed in return. (who.int) WHO said on May 1 that more time was needed and told the Seventy-ninth World Health Assembly that the outcome could now go either to a special session later in 2026 or to the next annual assembly in May 2027. (who.int) The delay matters because the broader WHO Pandemic Agreement was already adopted on May 20, 2025, but cannot move to signature and ratification until the PABS annex is finished. WHO says that annex is necessary to complete the legal and operational framework for the accord. ### If the agreement was adopted in 2025, why are talks still going? The World Health Assembly adopted the WHO Pandemic Agreement on May 20, 2025, but the same resolution set up further work on Article 12, the section dealing with pathogen access and benefit sharing. WHO’s Q&A says the Intergovernmental Working Group was tasked with concluding that work so the agreement could be opened for signature and ratification by member states. (who.int) The unfinished annex is not a side note. WHO said on May 1 that the PABS annex is “the last piece of the puzzle,” and that finalizing it is necessary before countries can proceed with signature and ratification of the pandemic agreement. (who.int) ### What exactly is the PABS fight about? WHO defines the PABS system as a framework for the rapid sharing of pathogens with pandemic potential and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their use. Those benefits include vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics. (who.int) That formula goes to the core dispute exposed during COVID-19. Lower-income countries and many public health advocates have long argued that samples and data often move faster than doses and technology. WHO’s description of the agreement says equity in access to vaccines, protective equipment, information and expertise is at its center. (who.int) ### What did WHO say this week? WHO’s daily updates for the Seventy-ninth World Health Assembly show that member states discussed the pandemic agreement during the May 18-23 meeting in Geneva, but the process remained unresolved as of May 22. WHO had already said on May 1 that the assembly would be asked to continue the working group’s mandate because further negotiations were needed. (who.int) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO director-general, said on May 1 that “real progress was made” on the annex but that differences remained. He said member states should approach the outstanding issues with urgency because “the next pandemic is a matter of when, not if.” (who.int) ### Why are some observers tying the delay to geopolitics? Matthew M. Kavanagh, a Georgetown University professor and director of the university’s Center for Global Health Policy and Politics, wrote in Foreign Policy on May 22 that U.S. dysfunction was undercutting attempts at equality in global health agreements. Foreign Policy presented that as an argument article, not a WHO statement or a negotiating record. (who.int) WHO’s own public documents do not assign blame to any single country in the current round. Instead, the organization has described the remaining work as technically and legally complex. IGWG Bureau Co-Chair Ambassador Tovar da Silva Nunes of Brazil said on May 1 that member states had shown “precision and dedication,” while adding, “We are not there yet.” (who.int) ### What happens next, and when could this finally finish? WHO said on May 1 that the Intergovernmental Working Group will hold its seventh meeting from July 6 to 17, 2026. The same WHO release said the assembly would be asked to allow the group to submit its outcome either at a special World Health Assembly session later in 2026 or at the next assembly in May 2027. (foreignpolicy.com) The practical effect is that the pandemic agreement remains incomplete until the PABS annex is settled. The next dated milestone on WHO’s calendar is the July 6-17 IGWG meeting in Geneva, where member states will resume line-by-line negotiations on the annex text. (who.int)