Topic\nWHO Pandemic Agreement: Delays Impact Global Health\n\n### Summary\nTh…

### Topic\nWHO Pandemic Agreement: Delays Impact Global Health\n\n### Summary\nThe WHO Pandemic Agreement, adopted on May 20, 2025, aims to strengthen global health governance and address inequities exposed by COVID-19. However, its full operationalization is delayed until at least May 2026 due to persistent "gridlock" in negotiations, particularly concerning the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) system. This ongoing stalemate impacts equitable access to medical countermeasures and future pandemic preparedness.\n\n### Body\nThe primary catalyst for the WHO Pandemic Treaty, officially known as the WHO Pandemic Agreement, was the global recognition of persistent weaknesses in global health governance, preparedness, equity, and accountability exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. This included the observed "vaccine apartheid," where over 70% of vaccine doses were administered in high-income countries during the first year of vaccine rollout, underscoring severe inequities in access to medical countermeasures. The estimated cumulative global cost of the COVID-19 pandemic exceeded USD $24 trillion, further emphasizing the urgent requirement for a new international instrument.\n\nThe WHO Pandemic Agreement was formally adopted on May 20, 2025, at the 78th World Health Assembly through resolution WHA78.1, following a three-year negotiation process. This agreement represents the second legally binding health treaty in WHO's 77-year history, negotiated under Article 19 of its Constitution. A central pillar is the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) System, designed to ensure rapid sharing of pathogens with pandemic potential and equitable access to benefits such as vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics. The agreement also includes provisions for a global "Pandemic Supply Chain and Equity Mechanism" (PSCEM) to distribute products based on public health need, not purchasing power, and establishes a Coordinating Financial Mechanism to support strengthening pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response capacities, particularly in developing countries. The instrument explicitly reaffirms state sovereignty, stating that nothing within it authorizes the WHO Secretariat or Director-General to direct or mandate national laws or policies, including lockdowns or vaccination mandates. However, the agreement's entry into force, which requires ratification by 60 countries, cannot commence until the PABS annex is finalized and adopted by the World Health Assembly, an event currently anticipated at the 79th World Health Assembly in May 2026.\n\nThe negotiation process for the WHO Pandemic Treaty spanned three years, involving 13 formal rounds of meetings, nine of which were extended, alongside numerous informal and intersessional discussions. Significant divisions persisted between high-income and middle- to low-income countries, particularly concerning intellectual property protection and resource-sharing, leading to prolonged discussions. The parallel negotiation process for amending the International Health Regulations (IHR) alongside the pandemic treaty generated "headaches" for diplomatic missions, especially for developing countries with smaller delegations, due to the complexity of coordinating across multiple government departments. This "gridlock" in negotiations, particularly regarding the PABS annex, has forced multiple delays, pushing the finalization of critical operational details to May 2026.\n\nThe failure to finalize a draft by the initial May 2024 deadline for the 77th World Health Assembly necessitated an extension of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body's (INB) mandate through May 2025, thereby delaying the anticipated adoption. The lack of consensus on the PABS system, a cornerstone for operationalizing equitable access, procedurally bottlenecks the agreement's entry into force until at least May 2026, rendering the 2025 adoption a "symbolic but ultimately hollow victory" without the annex. Disagreements over the binding nature of technology transfer provisions, intellectual property obligations, and financial commitments have contributed to these delays and resulted in the non-participation or abstention of some key countries, such as the United States, citing specific concerns. Furthermore, the current draft text of Article 11, related to technology transfer, was criticized for not enacting any significant change to the status quo regarding intellectual property rights, despite the recognized need for rapid diffusion of new medical tools during pandemics.\n\nThe intense focus on negotiating the WHO Pandemic Treaty, particularly the contentious issues of sovereignty, equity, and intellectual property, has diverted diplomatic resources and attention that could have been allocated to other pressing global health initiatives. The deferral of critical operational details, such as the precise functioning of the PABS system and specific financial commitments, means that the agreement's ability to effectively address global health inequalities and ensure equitable access to medical countermeasures remains largely aspirational rather than immediately actionable. The ongoing debates over intellectual property rights risk undermining the market-based ecosystem for biopharmaceutical innovation, potentially harming the development of future pandemic countermeasures if incentives for research and development are perceived to be weakened. The absence of concrete and robust norms, especially those safeguarding equitable access to resources and information sharing, within the treaty raises concerns about its potential to truly foster equitable global collaboration, particularly for Least Developed Nations (LDNs).\n\nThe delays in finalizing the operational aspects of the WHO Pandemic Agreement, particularly the PABS annex, mean that the world remains without a fully functional, legally binding mechanism to prevent a recurrence of the "vaccine nationalism" and inequitable distribution witnessed during COVID-19. The lack of an enforcement mechanism and concrete funding obligations within the adopted treaty text limits its immediate impact and raises doubts about its ability to meaningfully strengthen future pandemic preparedness and response. The failure to enshrine clear or binding guarantees for pathogen sharing and vaccine access means that Global South countries continue to face uncertainty regarding secure access to affordable health products in future pandemics, perpetuating vulnerabilities exposed by COVID-19. The ongoing "gridlock" and "stalemate" on critical issues like the PABS system mean that the opportunity to establish a more equitable, inclusive, transparent, and accountable global health system, as envisioned by the agreement, is significantly delayed.\n\n### Evidence\n* https://www.who.int/news/item/22-05-2024-pandemic-accord-negotiations-hit-gridlock

### Evidence
https://www.who.int/news/item/22-05-2024-pandemic-accord-negotiations-hit-gridlock