WHO Pandemic Agreement Stalled as Nations Debate Data Sharing and Equity

Countries gathered in Geneva for the eighth round of talks on the World Health Organization’s pandemic treaty, but little progress was reported. The central dispute centers on the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing annex (PABS), which would define how pathogen data are shared and how resulting vaccines, drugs, or diagnostics are allocated. Negotiators have until May 2027, when the World Health Assembly reconvenes, to reach a final accord.

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The treaty was adopted in May 2025 with the aim of improving global preparedness. While the agreement obliges parties to share pathogen data quickly, it leaves the concrete design of the PABS unsettled. Wealthier nations favor an open-access database to accelerate product development, citing the rapid sharing of the SARS-CoV-2 genome in early 2020 as a model. In contrast, lower-income countries demand “ironclad guarantees” that any products derived from shared data will be made available to them, recalling the stark inequities of COVID-19 vaccine distribution.

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He reiterated the existing commitment that 20 % of pandemic-emergency vaccines be allocated to WHO for distribution to low-income nations. The United States, having withdrawn from the treaty negotiations last year, is pursuing separate bilateral health-aid agreements that exchange pathogen data for aid, a move WHO officials warn could undermine the collective PABS framework.

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• “The pandemic agreement is really in a state of continued limbo,” — Suerie Moon

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• “I think they have very bitter memories of what happened during COVID-19,” — Suerie Moon

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• “It does seem that countries are coming to the table with good faith efforts to try to find a resolution,” — Alexandra Phelan

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• “They're like termites in the wood of the house that we're trying to build,” — Moon. If

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