WHO pandemic pact talks stall

WHO member states have not finished the last unresolved piece of the organization’s pandemic agreement: the annex on pathogen access and benefit-sharing, known as PABS. The World Health Organization said on May 1 that governments agreed they needed more time and would keep negotiating under the intergovernmental working group set up after the agreement’s adoption in 2025. The delay matters because the annex is the part meant to govern the exchange at the center of outbreak response — countries sharing pathogens and genetic sequence information, and in return gaining access to vaccines, diagnostics and treatments. ### What exactly is still unresolved? The PABS annex is the agreement’s most contested operational chapter. WHO says it is meant to create a framework for rapid sharing of pathogens with pandemic potential while also setting rules for sharing resulting benefits more equitably. That balance has been politically hard because lower-income countries have long argued that they should not be expected to hand over samples quickly only to be left behind when vaccines or other countermeasures are produced. (who.int) The WHO pandemic agreement itself was adopted by the World Health Assembly on May 20, 2025, but the PABS system was left for follow-on negotiation in a separate annex. WHO says the full agreement will open for signature and ratification only after that annex is adopted by the assembly. ### Why did governments push this into another round of talks? The WHO said on March 28 and again on May 1 that member states had made progress but could not finalize the annex in time for the assembly’s May consideration. (who.int) The organization said countries agreed to continue work because the framework still needed more negotiation to secure what WHO called a “better, more equitable” response to future pandemics. (who.int) The intergovernmental working group was created by the World Health Assembly to draft and negotiate the annex as a priority task. WHO’s meeting timeline shows six rounds had already been held or resumed by late April, with additional sessions now listed for July and September 2026. ### Why is this happening as WHO warns pandemic risk is rising? (who.int) The Global Preparedness Monitoring Board, in a report backed by WHO and cited by multiple outlets covering this week’s assembly, said the world is becoming more vulnerable to future pandemics because cooperation is weakening, funding is shrinking and inequities in access to vaccines and treatments persist. WHO has separately warned this year that cuts to international health financing are disrupting health systems and preparedness capacity. (who.int) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO’s director-general, said on May 1 that the world was living through the greatest disruption to global health financing in memory. WHO has also launched work specifically focused on trust and pandemic preparedness, reflecting its view that public trust is part of readiness for future emergencies. ### What outbreak is hanging over these talks right now? The Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda are dealing with an Ebola outbreak caused by Bundibugyo virus that WHO on May 17 determined was a public health emergency of international concern. (business-standard.com) WHO said that, as of May 16, there were eight laboratory-confirmed cases, 246 suspected cases and 80 suspected deaths in Ituri Province in eastern Congo. (news.un.org) More recent reporting from WHO’s Geneva briefing on May 19 put the Congo toll higher, at more than 500 suspected cases and 130 suspected deaths, with 30 cases confirmed so far. WHO officials have said they are considering use of an experimental vaccine because there is no licensed vaccine for the Bundibugyo strain. ### What happens next in the pact process? (who.int) The WHO’s intergovernmental working group is scheduled to meet again in July 2026 and September 2026, according to the organization’s timeline. WHO says the group’s outcome on the PABS annex will be submitted to the Seventy-ninth World Health Assembly for consideration, and only after the annex is adopted can the full pandemic agreement move to signature and ratification by countries. (who.int) (pmnewsnigeria.com)