WHO advances pandemic governance talks

The World Health Assembly spent part of its May 21 session on the machinery that now sits behind global pandemic policy: how countries implement the rules already agreed, how WHO keeps emergency coordination moving, and how negotiators finish the unfinished parts of last year’s Pandemic Agreement. WHO’s daily update described the work as part of a broader package of health-security issues under pandemic prevention, preparedness and response. The meeting in Geneva runs from May 18 to May 23. This was not a replay of the 2025 vote that adopted the WHO Pandemic Agreement. That agreement was already approved by the World Health Assembly on May 20, 2025. The 2026 discussion was instead about the operating pieces around it — implementation of the International Health Regulations, WHO’s health-emergencies work, and the still-unfinished annex on pathogen access and benefit-sharing, or PABS. ### If the Pandemic Agreement was already adopted, what was delegates’ job this week? (who.int) WHO’s 2026 agenda put pandemic-related items in several separate tracks. The assembly’s main documents include agenda item 13.2 on implementation of the International Health Regulations, item 13.3 on the open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group on the WHO Pandemic Agreement, and item 14.1 on WHO’s work in health emergencies, including an update on strengthening prevention, preparedness, response and resilience. (who.int) The May 21 daily update said delegates reviewed “implementation and governance matters” connected to pandemic prevention, preparedness and response as part of that broader health-security package. In practice, that means member states were working through reports, decisions and follow-up processes rather than negotiating an entirely new treaty text on the assembly floor. (apps.who.int) ### What unfinished piece is still hanging over the 2025 agreement? The WHO Pandemic Agreement page says the next crucial step after adoption is negotiation of the PABS system, which will form an annex to the agreement. WHO says the full agreement will open for signature and ratification only once that annex is adopted by the World Health Assembly. The agreement would then enter into force 30 days after 60 countries ratify it. (who.int) A May 13 report to this year’s assembly said the Intergovernmental Working Group had held six formal meetings, including two resumed sessions, to draft and negotiate that annex. The report said the group made progress on the core components of the PABS system but, at its resumed sixth meeting, acknowledged the need for further negotiations to finalize its work. ### How does this connect to the International Health Regulations? (who.int) The International Health Regulations are the standing global rules on how countries report and respond to cross-border health threats. WHO said amended IHR provisions entered into force on Sept. 19, 2025, after member states adopted the amendments by consensus in 2024. Those changes created a new “pandemic emergency” alert level and called for governments to establish National IHR Authorities to coordinate implementation. (apps.who.int) A report covering Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2025 said WHO assessed and triaged more than 4 million raw signals on potential public health events, sent 255 verification requests to states parties, and received 155 responses within 24 hours. The same report said 140 signals or events were shared through the joint FAO-WOAH-WHO early warning system and that WHO assessed 472 events with potential international public health implications, of which 396 were substantiated. (who.int) ### What does WHO say it is building beyond legal texts? WHO’s health-emergencies update says the agency is using its health emergency prevention, preparedness, response and resilience framework — known as HEPR — to build practical capacity across surveillance, laboratories and workforce systems. The report says all WHO regions now incorporate collaborative surveillance approaches, and WHO mobilized a grant of $18 million in 2025 to advance that work. (apps.who.int) The same update says WHO’s Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources initiative has trained nearly 5,000 public health intelligence professionals and supported activities across 119 member states. It also says the International Pathogen Surveillance Network engaged 366 partner organizations across 111 countries, while WHO supported 179 laboratories in 136 countries on mpox testing, sequencing and outbreak response. (apps.who.int) ### What comes next after this week’s assembly? WHO’s Pandemic Agreement page says the next formal milestone is adoption of the PABS annex by the World Health Assembly, after which the agreement can open for signature and ratification. The assembly’s document portal and the Intergovernmental Working Group page list the negotiating records and future sessions tied to that process. (who.int) (apps.who.int)