Intense negotiations lie ahead for World Health Organisation (WHO) member states to conclude the missing part of the Pandemic Agreement, after a brief respite since the agreement was adopted by the World Health Assembly in May.

A new body, the Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG), met for the first time this week, and chose Brazil’s Ambassador Tovar da Silva Nunes and the UK’s Dr Mathew Harpur as co-chairs.

The IGWG also adopted a tight schedule to achieve its key task: negotiating an annex to the pandemic agreement on a pathogen access and benefit sharing (PABS) system. This system will set out how information about pathogens with pandemic potential is shared in a safe, transparent and accountable manner, and how those who share information will benefit from products that are developed as a result.

Member states have until 10 August to submit proposals on what they want to see in the annex, which will flesh out Article 12 of the agreement. 

According to Article 12,  the IGWG needs to develop provisions to govern the PABS System, “including definitions of pathogens with pandemic potential and PABS materials and sequence information, modalities, legal nature, terms and conditions, and operational dimensions”.

Aside from the PABS system annex, the IGWG will also prepare the ground for the Conference of the Parties that will govern the pandemic agreement, and the terms of reference for a coordinating financial mechanism, which will help defend countries against outbreaks and pandemics.

September meetings

An informal IGWG meeting is planned for 12 September, with the next formal meeting from 15-19 September.

The IGWG Bureau, the administrative body overseeing the talks, is also compiling a list of experts to assist with negotiations. These will also be circulated to member states.

Experts are essential for this part of the talks, which are complex given that the annex will need to harmonise with several international agreements covering intellectual property and trade, as well as the Nagoya Protocol, which determines how to share the benefits arising from the utilisation of genetic resources fairly and equitably.

Speaking at the conclusion of the first IGWG meeting, WHO outgoing Assistant Director-General Dr Mike Ryan described the annex as the “core” and “engine house” of the pandemic agreement.

“You are beginning a really important process with difficult miles ahead diplomatically,” said Ryan, who revealed that the meeting was his last on the pandemic agreement negotiations as he leaves the WHO in September.

“You are constructing a platform that will save countless lives,” said Ryan, who added that he had “huge hope” that the talks would succeed – although member states will have to “go at it” to conclude by April 2026 in time for the World Health Assembly.

Earlier in the week, the Pandemic Action Network (PAN) and partners urged the IGWG negotiators to “keep up momentum and adopt a PABS Annex at the next World Health Assembly”.

They described the annex as critical “to advance equitable access to outbreak and pandemic medical countermeasures, and an essential step to advance the promise and potential of the pandemic agreement”.

They urged negotiators to bring in experts from public health and environmental, align early on priority themes and core structure, and tackle the toughest issues first.

“We appreciate the idea of a structured template to gather proposed texts, and stress that strategically timed meetings and well-used informal and intra-sessional opportunities will be essential to achieve a May 2026 deadline,” said the group in a press statement released by PAN, the Panel for a Global Public Health Convention, Spark Street Advisors and Helen Clark, co-chair of The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response.