By Bunmi Yekini
Member states of the World Health Organization have agreed to extend negotiations on a key element of the global pandemic accord, delaying finalisation of rules on how pathogens and resulting benefits should be shared until late April.
Delegates said discussions on the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing (PABS) annex, a central pillar of the WHO Pandemic Agreement, will resume from April 27 to May 1, with informal consultations scheduled beforehand, as countries seek to bridge persistent differences.
The extension underscores both the complexity and urgency of the talks, which aim to prevent a repeat of the inequities exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, when access to vaccines and medical tools was uneven across regions.
“The Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing system lies at the heart of the WHO Pandemic Agreement,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, urging countries to build trust and find common ground “for solidarity and for equity.”
The PABS system is designed to ensure that countries rapidly share data and biological samples of pathogens with pandemic potential, while also guaranteeing fair access to the benefits that arise from their use, including vaccines, diagnostics and treatments.
Negotiators meeting under the Intergovernmental Working Group spent the past week debating how such benefits should be defined and distributed, the legal frameworks governing agreements, and oversight mechanisms to ensure transparency and public accountability.
“Member State negotiators are working intensively towards having an ambitious and equitable” agreement ready for adoption in May, said Ambassador Tovar da Silva Nunes, co-chair of the negotiating bureau.
His co-chair, Matthew Harpur, said the progress made so far was encouraging but acknowledged that more time was needed to reach consensus before the accord is presented at the upcoming World Health Assembly.
Countries reaffirmed their commitment to multilateral cooperation, saying a stronger, fairer system for sharing pathogens and life-saving tools would be critical to protecting the world from future pandemics.