WHO Pandemic Agreement
On 20 May 2025 the World Health Assembly adopted the first pandemic agreement; without the PABS annex it cannot yet be signed.
Open in the interactive tree →124 states voted in favor and 11 abstained; the US did not take part. The agreement coordinates prevention and the distribution of vaccines and medicines, and the WHO may not prescribe national measures. Entry into force needs 60 ratifications.
As of October 2026
The annex on pathogen access and benefit sharing (PABS) was not finished in time: on 1 May 2026 member states agreed to extend the talks. The seventh round in July 2026 did not finish the PABS annex; adoption is now targeted for the World Health Assembly in May 2027, or earlier at a special session. Large gaps remain between developing countries (such as the Africa Group) and industrialized states, especially EU members.
Open steps
- Global real-time pathogen surveillance Medium AI leverageBuild genomic surveillance infrastructure that sequences respiratory samples from sentinel clinics worldwide, enabling real-time novel pathogen detection.
- mRNA vaccines beyond COVID Medium AI leverageDevelop next-generation mRNA and viral-vector vaccines against HIV, malaria and TB using structure-based design.
- Surge mRNA manufacturing Low AI leveragePre-build modular, mobile mRNA manufacturing plants in at-risk regions that retool for any pathogen within 100 days.
Where AI could help
Low AI leverage. The open gap is political, between pathogen-access and benefit-sharing models; AI can support tracking and simulation only.
- Track use of shared pathogen sequences and attribute benefits with provenance tools
- Simulate access-and-benefit-sharing designs and their effect on response speed
- Summarize and align draft texts across negotiating blocs
Prerequisites
- Vaccination1796
- Epidemiology1854The pandemic agreement relies on epidemiological surveillance of how disease spreads
- United Nations1945
- World Health Organization1948The agreement was adopted by the World Health Assembly, the WHO's governing body
- COVID-19 pandemic2020The WHO pandemic agreement was negotiated in response to COVID-19
Unlocks
Sources
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