The eighth session of the Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) on the WHO Pandemic Agreement will be conducted in hybrid format on 14–18 September 2026, from 09:00–13:00 and 15:00-19:30 each day. The opening and closing sessions will be webcast. The closing session on 18 September is scheduled to start at 17:30.
In May 2025, the World Health Assembly adopted the WHO Pandemic Agreement under Article 19 of the Constitution of the World Health Organization to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness and response. Through resolution WHA78.1, the Health Assembly established an open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) to undertake several tasks, including, as a priority, drafting and negotiating an annex to the WHO Pandemic Agreement on the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing (PABS) system (WHA79(7)). This multilateral system will enable the safe, transparent and accountable access and benefit-sharing – on equal footing.
The outcome of the PABS annex negotiations will be submitted to the Eightieth World Health Assembly in May 2027, or earlier at a special sesion of the Health Assembly in 2026, for consideration.
Webcast