The Independent Panel Statement to the resumed IGWG 6th Meeting 27 April – 1 May 2026
The experience of the last three years shows us a pattern and a path towards a world safer from pandemic threats.
In May 2024, WHO Member States worked until the last hour to agree and then adopt amended International Health Regulations. It was tough, but the IHR improvements were significant. They strengthened the system for better detection of health threats so they can be stopped before they become international emergencies, and improved access to financing and to medical countermeasures.
Then in May 2025, WHO Member States again worked until the last hour to agree and then adopt the Pandemic Agreement. That tough negotiation led to an historic moment.
The Pandemic Agreement articles, taken together, build a strong foundation and framework for the ways all countries can coordinate to prevent and respond to pandemic threats. The Agreement puts equity at its heart. If implemented to its full extent, it provides for an ordered approach to pandemic prevention, preparedness and response – a striking contrast to the chaos of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As we approach May 2026, Member States are once more working hard, this time to negotiate the operationalisation of Article 12 – the critical Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing Annex. These negotiations are profoundly consequential.
The PABS Annex is essential. Not only will it bring to life the provisions of Article 12 of the Pandemic Agreement, but it will open the Agreement as a whole for signing and ratification.
On Monday, negotiators will reconvene for a final scheduled week of work ahead of the World Health Assembly (WHA). They must now build on the constructive conversations that have taken place since the session in March, and agree the essential details that will ensure equity, and enable the PABS Annex to be adopted at the WHA.
That will pave the way for the most important work to begin outside the negotiation room: implementation of the Pandemic Agreement and more equitable protection for the 8.3 billion people the Agreement is designed to make safer.
End.
About The Independent Panel
The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response was established to provide an independent review and recommendations on global pandemic preparedness in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Co-chaired by former President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Helen Clark, the Panel continues to monitor progress and advocate for strengthened global health security.
Media Contact: Secretariat@IndependentPanel.org