Member States of the World Health Organization concluded a week of negotiations on a draft annex for Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing, a central element of the WHO Pandemic Agreement aimed at strengthening preparedness for future health emergencies.
“This global commitment will ensure the world can respond swiftly and effectively to future pandemics,” says WHO.
The fifth meeting of the Intergovernmental Working Group on the WHO Pandemic Agreement, convened from Feb. 9 to 14, 2026, focused on finalizing the proposed framework for pathogen access and benefit sharing, known as PABS. The working group was established by the World Health Assembly last year to negotiate the annex following adoption of the broader agreement.
The PABS system seeks to ensure that countries can rapidly detect pathogens with pandemic potential and share genetic sequence information and biological…
