Efforts to finalize the World Health Organization (WHO) pandemic treaty have been delayed because member states remain divided over proposed rules for sharing dangerous pathogens. At the center of the dispute is the proposed Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) annex, which would require countries to share samples and data on potentially pandemic-causing pathogens while ensuring access to vaccines, treatments, and tests developed from that information. Without agreement on these rules, the controversial pandemic accord adopted in 2025 cannot legally take effect.
The treaty was created in response to problems exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic and is supposedly intended to strengthen global preparedness for future outbreaks. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned that another pandemic is inevitable. The issue will be discussed at the upcoming World Health Assembly meeting, where countries are expected to approve continued negotiations, with a final agreement now potentially delayed until 2027 or an earlier special session in 2026.
To learn more about the background to the WHO pandemic treaty, see this article from 2023 on our website.
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May 22, 2026World Health Organization Delays Pandemic Treaty Amid Pathogen-Sharing Dispute
News
World Health Organization member states say they have extended talks on pathogen-sharing rules, casting doubt on when a pandemic treaty adopted last year can come into effect.
[Source: reuters.com]
[Image source: wikimedia.org]
Comment
Efforts to finalize the World Health Organization (WHO) pandemic treaty have been delayed because member states remain divided over proposed rules for sharing dangerous pathogens. At the center of the dispute is the proposed Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) annex, which would require countries to share samples and data on potentially pandemic-causing pathogens while ensuring access to vaccines, treatments, and tests developed from that information. Without agreement on these rules, the controversial pandemic accord adopted in 2025 cannot legally take effect.
The treaty was created in response to problems exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic and is supposedly intended to strengthen global preparedness for future outbreaks. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned that another pandemic is inevitable. The issue will be discussed at the upcoming World Health Assembly meeting, where countries are expected to approve continued negotiations, with a final agreement now potentially delayed until 2027 or an earlier special session in 2026.
To learn more about the background to the WHO pandemic treaty, see this article from 2023 on our website.
Dr. Rath Health Foundation
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