World leaders urged to push through Pandemic Agreement

WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva issued a joint, urgent appeal today for world leaders to finalize the stalled Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) annex to the Pandemic Agreement, warning ahead of the G7 summit that the world remains dangerously unprepared for the next global health crisis. This critical component, deferred last year amid contentious wrangling over equitable access, is the final hurdle preventing the landmark international accord from taking full effect. The deadlock primarily revolves around how benefits derived from shared pathogens—including life-saving vaccines, treatments, and diagnostics—will be fairly distributed between developed and developing nations, a stark echo of the vaccine nationalism witnessed during the COVID-19 pandemic that cost up to 20 million lives and $13 trillion in global economic output. Developing countries remain wary of a repeat scenario where they share genetic information only to be last in line for the resulting medical countermeasures, while industry concerns about stifling research and development persist. Recent outbreaks, such as the expanding Ebola crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, underscore the immediate and grave risks of an uncoordinated global response. With scientists estimating a nearly 25% chance of another pandemic within the coming decade, the urgency is palpable. Negotiators are slated to reconvene from July 6 to July 17, 2026, with a clear mandate to bridge these remaining gaps and bring the PABS annex to fruition. The outcome of these talks, particularly on benefit-sharing mechanisms, will determine whether the international community can truly forge a united front against future pandemics or remain vulnerable to the same inequities and delays that plagued past responses.