WHO pact stalls over pathogen sharing

The World Health Organization’s pandemic agreement remains incomplete a year after its adoption because governments still have not finished the treaty’s pathogen-sharing annex. WHO said on May 1 that member states needed more time to negotiate the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing, or PABS, system, the final piece required before the agreement can open for signature. The delay has coincided with a live Ebola emergency in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, where WHO and other U.N. agencies have been moving supplies and logistics support into affected areas. WHO says the outbreak was declared in Ituri province on May 15, and the agency declared the wider Ebola event a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on May 17. ### Why is one annex holding up the whole treaty? The WHO pandemic agreement was adopted by the World Health Assembly on May 20, 2025, but it cannot open for signature until the PABS annex is adopted. WHO and the U.K. House of Commons Library both say Article 12 requires that annex before countries can move to signature and ratification. (who.int) The annex is meant to set the rules for a bargain that has long divided rich and poorer countries: how quickly governments share pathogens with pandemic potential, and how fairly the benefits from that sharing are returned. WHO says those benefits include vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics. (who.int) ### What did negotiators decide in May? WHO said on May 1 that the resumed sixth meeting of the Intergovernmental Working Group in Geneva ended without a final text. Member states agreed to extend negotiations and ask the World Health Assembly to consider continuing the group’s work and submit the outcome to the next Assembly in May 2027, or earlier through a special session in 2026. (who.int) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO director-general, said at the time that “real progress was made” but that outstanding differences remained. IGWG Bureau Co-Chair Ambassador Tovar da Silva Nunes of Brazil said countries were “not there yet,” while IGWG Co-Chair Matthew Harpur said member states had shown “strong and continuing commitment” to the talks. (who.int) ### What is happening in Congo while the talks drag on? U.N. agencies said on May 21 they had stepped up support for the Ebola response in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, delivering emergency medical supplies, protective equipment and logistics assistance. Within 72 hours of the outbreak declaration, WHO delivered 11.5 tonnes of supplies from Kinshasa and regional hubs in Dakar and Nairobi, according to U.N. (who.int) News. MONUSCO, the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo, established an air bridge from Nairobi to Bunia starting on Sunday and had airlifted nearly 30 tonnes of supplies by Wednesday, U.N. News reported. The mission also sent four vehicles and two motorcycles and carried out awareness campaigns in Tchabi and Fataki. ### How serious is the Ebola outbreak? (news.un.org) WHO said on May 17 that the Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda had become a Public Health Emergency of International Concern because of rising cases, cross-border spread and uncertainty about the scale of transmission. As of May 16, health authorities had recorded eight laboratory-confirmed cases, 246 suspected cases and 80 suspected deaths in Ituri province, according to U.N. (news.un.org) News. Cases were also confirmed in Kinshasa and in Uganda, where two infected travelers from Congo were admitted to intensive care, U.N. News said. WHO said no approved vaccines or specific treatments currently exist for the Bundibugyo strain involved in the outbreak. ### What happens next in the treaty process? The Intergovernmental Working Group’s seventh meeting is scheduled for July 6-17, 2026, WHO said. (news.un.org) WHO has said the agreement will enter into force 30 days after 60 countries ratify it, but that step cannot begin until the PABS annex is adopted and the full agreement opens for signature. (who.int)