Statement by the South Centre to the Open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group on the WHO Pandemic Agreement, Ninth Session (IGWG9)
10 November 2026
How can governments reach an agreement in the WHO on a system for access and benefit sharing from pathogen material and digital sequence information that is equitable and effective?
In our statement to IGWG9, we offer suggestions on the design of PABS. Parties should share pathogen materials and sequence information primarily through the PABS system, creating legal certainty on the terms for access and for benefit sharing. Common rules should apply, with rapid access and benefit sharing on an equal footing, as Article 12 requires.
Global South Countries Reaffirm Common Purpose to Advance Equity in the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing System and the Pandemic Agreement
By Dr. Viviana Muñoz Téllez
The South Centre convened a high-level meeting on 12 June 2026, from 9:30 to 11:00 AM, at the Intercontinental Hotel, Geneva. It brought together ambassadors and other senior representatives and experts of developing-country delegations engaged in the negotiations on the Annex to Article 12 of the World Health Organization (WHO) Pandemic Agreement (the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing System (PABS) Annex), ahead of the seventh meeting of the open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG7), scheduled on 6 to 17 July 2026 in Geneva.
The meeting provided an opportunity for participating delegations to take stock of the IGWG process to date, to exchange assessments of the current state of the PABS Annex text, and to articulate their priorities and negotiating strategy for the next phase, with a view to strengthening coordination and unity among developing countries including the Group for Equity (GoE) and the African Group (AG) in pursuit of an equitable and legally binding outcome.
Statement by the South Centre on the Open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group on the WHO Pandemic Agreement
Geneva, 18 May 2026
The South Centre welcomes the one-year extension to finalise the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) Annex.
Developing countries showed remarkable unity and put forward concrete proposals. Had these been the basis of work, negotiations could have concluded sooner. Now all Parties must rise to the moment and deliver an Annex that meaningfully advances equity in pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.
South Centre Statement to the Sixth meeting of the Intergovernmental Working Group on the WHO Pandemic Agreement (IGWG6)
23 March 2026
Will countries at the World Health Organization (WHO) finalize negotiations this week on the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing (PABS) System to open way to signature of the Pandemic Agreement? Read the South Centre’s statement to the sixth IGWG:
South Centre Statement to IGWG5 on the WHO Pandemic Agreement
9 February 2026
The World Health Organization (WHO) Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) is reconvening to negotiate a Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing (PABS) System to make operational Article 12 of the WHO Pandemic Agreement, concluded in May 2025 but requiring conclusion of the PABS to move towards ratifications. The Fifth Meeting of the IGWG (IGWG5) will meet from 9-14 February 2026, and the negotiations are meant to conclude by May 2026.
The South Centre has made a statement to the IGWG5 highlighting the imbalance in the current Bureau text. The statement of the South Centre is reproduced below.
Analysis of the European Union Proposal on the Pandemic Agreement Annex dated 17 October 2025
South Centre
This note is prepared to provide South Centre Member States and other developing country delegations with analytical comments on the proposal of the European Union (EU) on the Annex to the Pandemic Agreement, implementing the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing (PABS) System as established in Article 12. The note begins with general commentary on the proposal, followed by detailed analysis of the EU proposal text, which is marked in red below the transcribed text.
South Centre Statement to the Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) on the WHO Pandemic Agreement
3 November 2025
This statement was delivered at the opening of the Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) on the WHO Pandemic Agreement, third session, on 3 November 2025. The South Centre underscored that the first draft Bureau text helps to kick off text-based negotiations, but it does not meet the requirements for implementation of Article 12 of the Pandemic Agreement.
The negotiations on the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing System under the WHO Pandemic Agreement: State of Play as of September 2025
By Viviana Munoz Tellez, German Velasquez
The World Health Organization (WHO) Member States adopted a Pandemic Agreement in May 2025 but deferred negotiations on the critical Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing System (PABS). Despite the tight timeline, the Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) has made minimal progress as of September 2025, with no draft text produced and formal negotiations yet to begin. The PABS system is essential for pandemic equity, balancing rapid pathogen sharing with equitable access to vaccines and treatments. But with the current approach to the IGWG process, without formal negotiations underway, Member States risk failing to finalize the PABS Annex by the March 2026 deadline.
This book presents reflections and research that highlight tensions in the negotiations on pandemic preparedness treaties and revisions to the International Health Regulations, underscoring the geopolitical divide between developed and developing countries. It advocates regional health initiatives as a response to the multilateral impasse and reflects on the erosion of foundational public health concepts such as “essential medicines”.
New pandemics are inevitable. How can we best prepare for them and, above all, how can we avoid the mistakes and injustices made during the COVID-19 pandemic?
How can equitable access to medicines and diagnostics be guaranteed when they are produced in a small number of countries? How can we explain the fact that current funding for cooperation in the field of health is in the hands of a small group of Northern countries and foundations from the North? How can the role of the World Health Organization be strengthened? WHO now plays only a minor role in coordinating public health policies. How is it that the concept of “essential medicines”, a major advance in public health policy, is being replaced by that of “medical countermeasures”, a term more in line with the private sectors?
Preparing for future pandemics forces us to ask ourselves: how can we safeguard the general interest, the defense of human rights and public health?
Negotiating Global Health Policies: Tensions and Dilemmas is essential reading for negotiators from the 194 member countries of the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) who participate in international negotiations on health and development. Academics and students of medicine, health sciences, law, sociology and political science, as well as intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations who work on access to medicines and global health issues, also would find the book of interest.
Author: Germán Velásquez is Special Adviser, Policy and Health of the South Centre in Geneva, Switzerland. Previously, he was Director of the Secretariat on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property at WHO. He represented WHO at the WTO TRIPS Council from 2001 to 2010. He is the author and co-author of numerous publications on health economics and medicines, health insurance schemes, globalization, international trade agreements, intellectual property and access to medicines.
He obtained a Master’s degree in Economics and a PhD in Health Economics from Sorbonne University, Paris. In 2010, he received a Honoris Causa PhD on Public Health from the University of Caldas, Colombia and in 2015 he received another Honoris Causa PhD from the Faculty of Medicine of the Complutense University of Madrid, Spain.
New Amendments to the International Health Regulations: Strengthening Access to Health Products in Emergencies and Pandemics
By Viviana Munoz Tellez
The International Health Regulations amendments entered into force on September 19, 2025 across most World Health Organization (WHO) Member States. These updates don’t give WHO any new powers but help countries work better together to advance fair and timely access to health products such as vaccines, treatments and diagnostics needed to respond to health emergencies. The real challenge now is implementation and building the necessary capabilities to make these improvements function.
Working Document – Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing System
3 September 2025
This document is a work in progress intended to assist in the understanding of the ongoing negotiations in the WHO | IGWG for the establishment of a Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing System as an Annex of the Pandemic Agreement, as described in Article 12.
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