WHO pandemic treaty’s final talks start as Global North vs South divide remains wide

Final talks for the WHO’s pandemic treaty began on Monday in Geneva, but negotiators from the Global North and South remain at odds over how it would work.

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) member states adopted the pandemic treaty last year to outline how future pandemics should be handled. The idea for such a treaty emerged from the global shock of Covid‑19 and the fragmented efforts across the world to respond to the crisis.

The members left the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) section to be finalised later in order to reach agreement on most of the text. But it has now emerged as the biggest sticking point.

The PABS covers the sharing of access to pathogens with pandemic potential for research, and the sharing of the benefits of such research, such as vaccines, tests, and therapeutics.

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While the exchange appears straightforward on paper, Global South members are “voicing their mistrust, fearing they will share their viruses without any guarantees of equitable access to vaccines in the event of a crisis”, WHO Chief Scientist Sylvie Briand told AFP.

During the Covid‑19 pandemic, while developing countries scrambled for vaccines, developed countries bought doses sufficient to vaccinate their populations several times over. The WHO has attempted to address some concerns over inequity.

The treaty mandates that participating pharmaceutical companies must provide 20 per cent of their production of vaccines, tests, and therapeutics to the WHO for redistribution, with at least half as a donation and the rest “at affordable prices”, according to AFP.

Members have until Friday to finalise the agreement —now in its fourth year of negotiations— so that it can be approved during the World Health Assembly, which opens on 18 May.

‘World can’t afford to lose this opportunity’

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said the world cannot afford to squander the opportunity and risk being unprepared for the next pandemic.

“It will not be perfect; no agreement ever is. But it can be fair; it can be functional,” Ghebreyesus said, according to AFP.

Briand also noted that questions remain over whether the pharmaceutical industry has the capacity and motivation to contribute to a pandemic agreement “without a guarantee of return on investment”, as per AFP.

Countries have until Friday to negotiate PABS so it can be approved during the World Health Assembly of WHO member states, which opens on 18 May.

Global South fears unequal deal

Broadly, the Global South fears ending up with an arrangement in which developing countries must share pathogens with pharmaceutical companies or governments in developed countries, but receive no guaranteed access to vaccines or therapeutics in return.

NGOs and developing countries have demanded that guaranteed access must be mandatory if they are providing pathogens. They are also clashing with some developed countries that want work on pathogens to be anonymous. Anonymity, they argue, could make it nearly impossible to track what happens to a shared pathogen and what vaccine, test, or therapeutic has been developed from it.

In a post on X, the Working Group on Access to Medicines – India summed up the issue: “Developing countries invest heavily in labs, scientists, and disease surveillance. Yet the benefits of that work are captured elsewhere.”