WHO members miss deadline for pandemic accord draft, will continue talks

Member countries of the World Health Organization said they failed to agree on a draft of a long-awaited pandemic agreement by a deadline last week, but the group will continue talks ahead of a major global health meeting later this month.

The agreement, which has been in the works since 2021, would define member countries’ responsibilities in future global health emergencies, including developing vaccines and treatments and sharing information on emerging pathogens. Members were planning to have a draft by May 10 to present to the full World Health Assembly on May 27, but the WHO announced last week that it will instead continue negotiations up until the assembly.

Precious Matsoso

Precious Matsoso, co-chair of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body Bureau, the group established to handle the talks, said in a statement that the group has made progress.

“This is not a simple exercise,” she said. “This is the first ever process to develop a proposed agreement on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response. Getting this done means getting it right.”

Last month, Senate HELP Committee Chair Bernie Sanders came down hard on the drug industry over some companies’ opposition to the agreement’s provisions on intellectual property. Sanders’ office did not return Endpoints News’ request for comment.

James Love

James Love is the director of the NGO Knowledge Ecology International, a global health and social justice group, and has been attending the talks. He said that the complexity of the agreement — which covers issues ranging from intellectual property to regulatory pathways — has made it hard to get all countries to agree.

He said it’s been particularly challenging for negotiators to agree on language around pathogen access and benefit-sharing. Those terms would establish how biological materials with pandemic or epidemic potential would be shared among countries. He said that language around technology transfer and funding have also been contentious.

“This is probably the most intense public engagement of people who are not in the room voicing their opinion on things, or even members of Congress or other other people, and that influences what you can do in the room,” he said.

The negotiations are ongoing as Congress has yet to reauthorize the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act, which expired in the fall.