WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated that the Ebola virus outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo highlights the urgent need to finalize the international agreement on pandemics and strengthen cooperation among countries to address cross-border health threats.
In the same context, Ghebreyesus, during the opening of the ninth round of meetings of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body on the pandemic agreement in Geneva on Monday, called on countries to conclude negotiations and reach consensus on outstanding issues, emphasizing that any health threat in one country can become a risk affecting the entire world.
For his part, the Director-General clarified that the earlier hantavirus outbreak this year and the ongoing Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo underscore the necessity of collective preparedness for epidemics, noting that the key lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic is that no country can protect itself alone from pandemics.
He pointed out that the main issue still hindering the completion of the agreement is the Access to Pathogens and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) system, which regulates the exchange of samples and genetic information of pathogens with epidemic potential in return for ensuring fair sharing of benefits arising from them, including vaccines, tests, and treatments.
Ghebreyesus added that the inequitable distribution of vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic led to human losses and prolonged the health crisis, affirming that adopting the aforementioned system constitutes a crucial step toward enhancing global health security.
The World Health Assembly adopted the International Agreement on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Response in May 2025, after three years of arduous negotiations, while the agreement on the annex regarding the benefit-sharing system was postponed to continue negotiating implementation mechanisms, with the results of negotiations scheduled to be presented to the World Health Assembly next May.
Source: Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA)
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