WHO stalls on PABS annex

The World Health Assembly ended on May 23 without finishing the part of the WHO Pandemic Agreement that governs how countries share dangerous pathogens and what they receive in return. The unresolved section, known as the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing, or PABS, annex, is the last major operational piece still missing from the agreement adopted in May 2025. (who.int) WHO said member states made progress but needed more time, and delegates are now expected to continue talks into 2027 unless a special session is called earlier. (news.un.org) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tied that unfinished work to current outbreak risks. At the close of the 79th World Health Assembly in Geneva, the WHO director-general said recent Ebola and hantavirus outbreaks showed the world was still exposed to fast-moving infectious disease threats. (who.int) He also said member states should treat the remaining PABS issues with urgency because “the next pandemic is a matter of when, not if.” ### Why is this annex still blocking the pandemic agreement? Article 12 of the WHO Pandemic Agreement requires a separate annex to spell out the PABS system before the broader accord can move to signature and ratification. WHO says that once the annex is adopted by the Health Assembly, countries can sign and ratify the full agreement under their own constitutional procedures. (who.int) The agreement then enters into force 30 days after 60 ratifications. The dispute is difficult because PABS sits at the center of two linked demands. WHO says the system is meant to ensure the rapid sharing of pathogens with pandemic potential and, on an equal footing, the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their use, including vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics. (news.un.org) That is the part countries are still trying to convert into legal and operational text. ### What exactly is PABS supposed to do? WHO describes PABS as the mechanism for sharing pathogen samples and genetic sequence information quickly for public-health purposes while also ensuring that countries receive benefits from products developed from that material. (who.int) Those benefits can include vaccines, diagnostics, therapeutics and other pandemic-related tools. The design reflects complaints from lower-income countries during COVID-19 that samples and data were often shared faster than resulting medical products. The WHO’s Intergovernmental Working Group, or IGWG, was created after the May 20, 2025 adoption of the Pandemic Agreement specifically to negotiate that annex. The group’s mandate made PABS the priority task needed to complete the agreement’s architecture. (who.int) ### What did WHO say about the delay? On May 1, WHO said member states had agreed that additional time was needed to finalize the PABS framework after a resumed sixth IGWG meeting in Geneva. Tedros said then that “real progress was made” and that he was confident continued negotiations could overcome the remaining differences. Ambassador Tovar da Silva Nunes of Brazil, an IGWG bureau co-chair, said the text involved technical and legal complexity and added, “We are not there yet.” (who.int) WHO also said the Assembly would be asked to consider continuing the IGWG’s work and submit an outcome to the next World Health Assembly in May 2027, or earlier through a special session in 2026. (who.int) That means the accord adopted last year still cannot open for signature until the annex is settled. ### Why did Tedros bring up Ebola and hantavirus? On May 23, Tedros said recent Ebola and hantavirus outbreaks were evidence that outbreak preparedness could not be treated as a theoretical exercise. UN News reported that Uganda had confirmed three new Bundibugyo Ebola cases that day, bringing the country’s total to five, while WHO said it was working with Africa CDC and partners in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to contain the outbreak. (who.int) His point was procedural as well as epidemiological: global agreements, he said, have to translate into practical action that contains outbreaks quickly and reaches vulnerable populations. The unresolved annex governs one of the first steps in that chain — whether pathogen samples and sequence data move quickly enough, and under what terms. (who.int) ### What happens next in the negotiations? WHO says the IGWG will hold its seventh meeting from July 6 to 17, 2026. The WHO governance page also lists a further eighth meeting in September 2026, with the option of a special World Health Assembly session if member states reach text before May 2027. (news.un.org) The parallel public-health agenda is still moving. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative said WHA discussions this month highlighted the final steps toward eradication and that in 2025 it immunized more than 350 million children multiple times, including more than 55 million in Pakistan. Those talks continue separately from the PABS annex, which remains the next named milestone for the pandemic agreement process. (news.un.org) (polioeradication.org) (who.int)