As negotiations continue for the unfinished World Health Organization Pandemic Agreement, French Ambassador Anne-Claire Amprou warns that delays risk losing key experts. Countries are currently working to finalize the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing annex amid past geopolitical tensions. Meanwhile, Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin, who is seeking to lead the agency, urges the organization to tap external funding sources like the World Bank and Gates Foundation.
WHO Pandemic Agreement negotiation delays
- ▪Anne-Claire Amprou stated that a less ambitious, imperfect World Health Organization Pandemic Agreement is preferable to having no agreement at all, as it provides a foundation to build upon.
- ▪Anne-Claire Amprou, French Ambassador for Global Health, warned that delays in negotiating the unfinished World Health Organization Pandemic Agreement risk losing the diplomats and public health experts involved from the start.
- ▪The World Health Organization Pandemic Agreement was adopted in May 2025 after three years of negotiations.
Pathogen Access Benefit Sharing annex
- ▪Countries are negotiating the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing annex to establish a system for sharing pathogens with pandemic potential.
- ▪The Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing annex aims to ensure equitable access to vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics resulting from shared pathogens.
Geopolitical tensions in negotiations
- ▪Anne-Claire Amprou stated that focusing on shared public health objectives was key to finalising negotiations despite geopolitical tensions and political divergences.
- ▪The original World Health Organization Pandemic Agreement negotiations repeatedly collided with geopolitical tensions, including wars and the United States' withdrawal from the World Health Organization.
African countries coalition strategy
- ▪African countries coordinated their positions and combined expertise to build a common voice among 47 countries during the World Health Organization Pandemic Agreement negotiations.
- ▪Former Ethiopian Minister of Health Lia Tadesse Gebremedhin stated that African delegations often had only one or two experts, compared to other delegations with 20 to 25 experts.
WHO alternative funding sources
- ▪Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin, who is seeking to lead the World Health Organization, suggested tapping funds from the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Gates Foundation, Gavi, and the Global Fund.
- ▪Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin called for the World Health Organization to look beyond its own budget and tap external financing sources to support itself and member countries.
Debatable claims
- ▪A less ambitious WHO Pandemic Agreement is better than no agreement
- ▪The WHO should tap external private and multilateral sources for funding
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