May 1 - World Health Organization member states have decided to prolong discussions on rules for sharing pathogens, raising questions about when a pandemic accord adopted last year will be able to take effect. Negotiators remain focused on the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) annex, a section intended to ensure that countries quickly provide pathogen samples and data that might indicate an emerging pandemic while receiving fair access to any vaccines, tests and treatments developed as a result.
The PABS annex sets out the procedures for how nations would exchange pathogen data and biological samples that present public health risks, and it also aims to embed mechanisms to promote equitable access to countermeasures derived from those materials. According to the WHO process, the broader Pandemic Agreement cannot enter into force until members reach consensus on this annex.
The Pandemic Agreement itself was adopted by the World Health Assembly in May 2025 with the purpose of strengthening global prevention, preparedness and response to future pandemics. WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that while negotiators have made progress, countries must continue to work with urgency, adding that the next pandemic is "a matter of when, not if." The results of the extended talks are due to be reported back to the World Health Assembly later in May.
When the agreement was adopted last year, member states had already agreed to set the PABS section aside because negotiations on it proved contentious. The assembly is expected to be asked to permit continued negotiations; any final agreement on the annex would then be submitted either to the next regular assembly in May 2027 or, if concluded sooner, to a special session in 2026.
Context and next steps
- The PABS annex is central to enabling rapid sharing of pathogens and ensuring access to medical countermeasures created from those materials.
- Without agreement on PABS, the Pandemic Agreement adopted in May 2025 cannot be brought into effect.
- The World Health Assembly will receive the outcome of the ongoing discussions later in May and will consider a request to continue negotiations, with possible submission of any agreement in 2026 or at the May 2027 assembly.
The extension of talks preserves the possibility of reaching a consensus but leaves the activation timeline of the pandemic accord uncertain. The stalemate over the PABS annex underscores the political sensitivity around rules that link pathogen sharing to fair access to vaccines, diagnostics and treatments. Member states had previously set aside this annex at the time they adopted the main treaty because of these contentious negotiations.