By Bunmi Yekini
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus have called on world leaders to break a negotiating deadlock and finalize the remaining elements of the landmark WHO Pandemic Agreement, warning that the world remains dangerously unprepared for future global health crises.
In a joint letter issued ahead of the G7 Summit, the two leaders appealed to heads of government from the G7, G20, BRICS and other nations to provide political backing for negotiators working to complete the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) annex, a key component required before the pandemic accord can enter into force.
The appeal comes more than a year after countries adopted the WHO Pandemic Agreement, a global framework designed to strengthen international cooperation in preventing, preparing for and responding to pandemics following the COVID-19 crisis.
Lula and Tedros said the agreement remains incomplete without a mechanism that enables countries to rapidly share pathogen samples and genetic information while ensuring equitable access to vaccines, treatments and diagnostic tools developed from that data.
“One piece remains,” the leaders wrote. “Until it is finished, the Agreement cannot enter into force. The promise stays unkept.”
The letter recalled the human toll of the COVID-19 pandemic, which WHO estimates, alongside other studies, may have contributed to as many as 20 million deaths worldwide. It argued that the world had pledged to avoid repeating the mistakes exposed during the crisis, when unequal access to vaccines and medical supplies left many countries vulnerable.
Negotiators are scheduled to meet from July 6 to July 17 to continue discussions on the PABS system, which aims to establish rules for sharing pathogens with pandemic potential and distributing the benefits derived from them.
According to the letter, key unresolved issues include how benefits should be shared, how the system should be governed and how equitable access can be guaranteed for all countries.
The Brazilian president and WHO chief urged leaders to give negotiators greater flexibility to reach consensus, stressing that the agreement does not undermine national sovereignty.
They pointed to provisions in the treaty stating that WHO would have no authority to impose measures such as lockdowns, travel restrictions or mandatory vaccinations, decisions that remain the responsibility of individual governments.
The two leaders also argued that equity should be at the centre of the final agreement, noting that countries that quickly share pathogen samples must have confidence that resulting vaccines and treatments will also be accessible to their populations.
“Solidarity is our best immunity,” they wrote.
The letter warned that future pandemics remain a significant threat, citing scientific estimates that there is nearly a one-in-four chance of another pandemic occurring within the next decade. Factors such as climate change, changes in land use, evolving agricultural practices and advances in biotechnology are increasing the risk of disease emergence and spread, they said.
Lula and Tedros urged governments to treat the July negotiating session as a final deadline rather than another milestone in the process.
“The next pandemic will not wait for us,” they said.
They also highlighted the economic consequences of inaction, noting estimates from the International Monetary Fund that the COVID-19 pandemic cost the global economy more than $13 trillion in lost output.
The appeal comes as health authorities continue to battle outbreaks of deadly infectious diseases, including Ebola, in parts of Africa, underscoring what the leaders described as the continuing need for stronger international preparedness and response systems.
“Finishing this Agreement is not a departure from that legacy,” the two leaders wrote, referring to past global successes in combating diseases such as smallpox, polio, HIV, tuberculosis and malaria. “It is its natural next chapter, and it is within reach.”