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WHO urges Geneva negotiators to complete pathogen-sharing annex

At the opening of the ninth negotiating session in Geneva on 2 November 2026, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged states to complete the pandemic agreement’s PABS annex. His address announced no final compromise.

The system is intended to connect access to pathogens with sharing the benefits derived from their use. Tedros presents the annex as essential to making the agreement adopted in 2025 operational and avoiding unequal access to health tools.

In a separate statement dated the same day, pharmaceutical federation IFPMA argues that some proposed requirements for laboratories and databases could discourage participation. This reservation is the industry’s position; it does not establish the actual effects of rules still under negotiation.

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