The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) called on countries on April 27, 2026, to finalize this week negotiations aimed at creating a system for sharing pathogens and health products, otherwise the treaty on pandemics adopted last year cannot enter into force. The world cannot afford to miss this opportunity and risk being unprepared for the next pandemic.", said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, calling on countries negotiating at WHO headquarters to to reach an agreement this week“.
After more than three years of negotiations launched in the wake of Covid-19, the member states of the WHO – which the United States under Donald Trump withdrew from – adopted a treaty on pandemics in May 2025. However, they failed to agree on the central element of the treaty, the system – known as PABS – designed to organize the rapid and equitable sharing of pathogens, their genetic data, and the resulting health products – vaccines, treatments, and diagnostic tests.
They hope to conclude negotiations this week in order to adopt the text at the WHO general assembly in May, but their outcome remains uncertain. Developing countries are expressing their mistrust, fearing they will share their viruses without guarantees of equitable access to vaccines in the event of a crisis, while other countries question the pharmaceutical industry's motivation and capacity to support a global pandemic agreement without a guarantee of a return on investment in the long term." , Sylvie Briand, chief scientist at the WHO, told AFP.
"Shared blame"
According to Jean Karydakis, a Brazilian diplomat in Geneva, the differences of opinion remained " important "Last week, even though rich countries, particularly the EU, are now striving to demonstrate flexibility“.
The treaty stipulates that each laboratory voluntarily participating in the PABS must guarantee to the WHO, in the event of a pandemic, rapid access to a targeted percentage of 20% of its real-time production of vaccines, treatments and diagnostic products (…) provided that a minimum of 10% of its production "be made available to the WHO" as a donation and the remaining percentage at an affordable price"The details, however, remain to be defined, as do the rules on the..." monetary contributions » companies and those on access to health data and tools.
“ This mechanism is a priority for developing countries, particularly African countries, and it was a condition under which they agreed to adopt the pandemic agreement last year. A solution that works for everyone must therefore be found."A Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that while NGOs have regularly criticized wealthy countries during the negotiations, this diplomat emphasized that..."There are also excessive demands from some developing countries and believes that The blame is shared.“.
Points of friction
Developing countries are advocating for the sharing of health tools and technology transfers outside of pandemic phases, which are far less frequent than epidemics. KM Gopakumar, a researcher at the Third World Network in New Delhi, told AFP that developing countries also believe that manufacturers should have access to data on pathogens. should immediately lead to legal commitments to benefit sharing“Developed countries are more reluctant to do so.”
But " During the Ebola epidemics, samples taken from African patients helped develop treatments", without guarantees of equitable access for the populations concerned, " This has led to limited availability in Africa and the accumulation of stocks primarily in the United States." , Olena Zarytska of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) told AFP.
Developing countries are also demanding that access to pathogen databases be granted through a user registration and tracking system, while " Developed countries – primarily Germany, Norway, and Switzerland – advocate for anonymous access", according to KM Gopakumar. Speaking anonymously, " Genetic resources from developing countries can be used, traded and exploited with impunity" , denounced in a joint letter to the WHO more than a hundred NGOs, including Oxfam.
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