The World Well being Group (WHO) Member States this week superior their negotiations on the Pathogen Entry and Profit‑Sharing (PABS) system in a resumed session of the Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) on the WHO Pandemic Settlement. The PABS system is a core factor of the settlement adopted by the World Well being Meeting (WHA) in Could 2025.
Throughout the session held on 20–22 January 2026, Member States continued textual content‑primarily based negotiations on excellent points within the draft annex and exchanged views geared toward narrowing variations and figuring out areas of convergence.
“I’m inspired by the progress we’ve got made in a number of areas, with indicators of rising consensus for some components of the Pathogen Entry and Profit‑Sharing system,” mentioned IGWG Bureau co‑chair Ambassador Tovar da Silva Nunes, of Brazil. “As we stay up for the fifth session, the main focus might be on the excellent, complicated points. The resumed session has helped us acquire a clearer image of the place we stand.”
Established by the WHA, the IGWG is tasked, as a precedence, with drafting and negotiating the PABS system, which is meant to allow secure, clear and accountable sharing of pathogens with pandemic potential and their genetic sequence data, alongside the honest and equitable sharing of advantages arising from their use, together with vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics.
The resumed session was held following a request by Member States to increase the fourth assembly of the IGWG, which convened in December 2025.
“Member States have engaged in constructive discussions this week,” mentioned IGWG Bureau co-chair Mr Matthew Harpur, of the UK. “As we make progress in direction of the Could deadline, I’m inspired by their willingness to work collectively and bridge variations to ship an efficient Pathogen Entry and Profit‑Sharing system.”
Additional conferences of the IGWG are scheduled within the coming months as Member States proceed their negotiations.
A powerful Pathogen Entry and Profit‑Sharing system might be a cornerstone of a safer and extra equitable world. I thank nations for his or her dedication to multilateral options.”
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-Common
The result of IGWG’s work might be submitted to the Seventy‑ninth World Well being Meeting in Could 2026 for its consideration.
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