WHO Holds Key Negotiations on Pandemic Agreement's Pathogen Access Annex
Written by AI from who.int's report. Not checked by a person.
The World Health Organization's intergovernmental working group opened a two-week hybrid session on 2 November 2026 to draft and negotiate the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing annex to the WHO Pandemic Agreement.
The ninth meeting of the WHO's Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) on the Pandemic Agreement opened on 2 November 2026 in hybrid format, running through 13 November. The session's priority task is drafting and negotiating the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing (PABS) annex — a multilateral system designed to enable safe, transparent and accountable access and benefit-sharing on equal footing.
The WHO Pandemic Agreement was adopted by the World Health Assembly in May 2025 under Article 19 of the WHO Constitution, with the aim of strengthening global pandemic prevention, preparedness and response. Through resolution WHA78.1, the Health Assembly established the open-ended IGWG to carry out several tasks, with drafting and negotiating the PABS annex set as the top priority.
Any finalised annex text will be submitted to the 80th World Health Assembly in May 2027. Daily working sessions run from 09:00 to 12:00 and 14:00 to 19:00, with the opening and closing sessions webcast publicly.
