<\/p>\n
Delegations concluded the resumed session of the sixth meeting of the Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) in Geneva after negotiations focused on the PABS system. The outcome of the work will be presented to the Seventy-ninth World Health Assembly (WHA) later in May.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Because further negotiations are still required, WHA will be asked to consider extending the IGWG mandate under Resolution WHA78.1, with a view to submitting a final outcome to the next Assembly in May 2027, or earlier through a special session of WHA in 2026.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said \u201creal progress\u201d was achieved on the PABS annex, while urging faster convergence on remaining issues. After the first reference, Tedros said the next pandemic remains a matter of \u201cwhen, not if\u201d, describing the PABS annex as the final component needed to complete the Pandemic Agreement architecture developed after lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The PABS system is intended to ensure rapid sharing of pathogens with pandemic potential on an equal footing, plus fair plus equitable sharing of benefits arising from use of those pathogens, including vaccines, diagnostics plus therapeutics. Finalisation of the annex is required before countries can proceed to signature plus ratification of the Pandemic Agreement.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
IGWG Bureau Co\u2011Chair Ambassador Tovar da Silva Nunes of Brazil said the technical plus legal complexity of the annex requires precision plus sustained effort. After the first reference, Tovar da Silva Nunes said an extension of negotiations is expected to enable completion.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
IGWG Co\u2011Chairperson Matthew Harpur said strong commitment remains in place among Member States, with confidence that negotiations are moving in the right direction to provide the Pandemic Agreement with a workable framework for improved preparedness plus protection.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The IGWG is scheduled to hold a seventh meeting from July 6 to July 17, 2026.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–WHO\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":33406,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-33523","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Member States of the World Health Organisation (WHO) have made progress on the Pathogen Access plus Benefit Sharing (PABS) annex, a core component of the WHO Pandemic Agreement, while agreeing that additional time is needed to finalise the framework for a more equitable response to future pandemics.","published_date":"","news_description":"Member States of the World Health Organisation (WHO) have made progress on the Pathogen Access plus Benefit Sharing (PABS) annex, a core component of the WHO Pandemic Agreement, while agreeing that additional time is needed to finalise the framework for a more equitable response to future pandemics.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/33523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/33523\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33524,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/33523\/revisions\/33524"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=33523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}