WHO Pandemic Agreement Talks Close Seventh Round Without Finalizing PABS Annex

The WHO Intergovernmental Working Group's seventh round of negotiations on the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing (PABS) annex closed in Geneva after two weeks (6-17 July) without agreement. Member states narrowed technical language on contractual frameworks, laboratory networks, and benefit-sharing definitions, but the Africa Group's 'federated' model and the EU-backed 'hybrid' model remain unreconciled. Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged continued urgency, warning 'the next pandemic will not wait.' The eighth IGWG round was scheduled for 14-18 September 2026, pushing final PABS annex adoption toward the Eightieth World Health Assembly in May 2027.