WHO member states restart talks to finalize pandemic treaty annex

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WHO member states began another session at the agency’s Geneva headquarters to finalize the missing Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) annex of the pandemic treaty adopted in May 2025. Wealthy and developing countries remain divided over how the system will operate, and negotiators have made slow, incremental progress across six previous rounds. WHO director-general Tedros urged continued effort as an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo — with 1,528 confirmed cases and 492 confirmed deaths, and spillover into Uganda — and a recent hantavirus incident underscore persistent global risks. Only once the annex is complete can countries begin ratifying the treaty.

The PABS annex must be finished before treaty ratification can start