There's a global pandemic treaty that's signed -- and in 'limbo.' What's the holdup?

These letters are part of the translated genetic code of the novel coronavirus that sparked the global pandemic. A new treaty aims to promote the sharing of such information among nations for any future virus that threatens the planet. Smith Collection/Gado//via Getty Images hide caption

The World Health Organization adopted the pandemic agreement in May 2025, aimed at making the world better prepared for the next global health crisis — but countries were only able to get the votes because they agreed to kick the can on finalizing the most contentious details.

That can kicking has continued for the past year and half. Countries met last week for the eighth round of negotiations in Geneva, but there was little to show for it.

"The pandemic agreement is really in a state of continued limbo," says Suerie Moon , co-director of the global health center at the Geneva Graduate Institute. "The mood is somber, I think a lot of countries know we have to make progress, and yet the path forward is not obvious."

At the center of the debate is access and equity — whether countries should be obligated to share data on new pathogens with the international community quickly, and what obligations countries have to share the vaccines, drugs or tests developed from those data.

"There was staggering inequity during COVID-19, where rich countries had access to vaccines almost immediately, and were able to procure it multiple times over for their population," while lower-income countries got scraps, says Sangeeta Shashikant , a legal adviser for the Third World Network, a nonprofit. "The pandemic agreement is an attempt to bridge that gap."

In principle, countries have agreed to these obligations. And they see them as crucial to having a system in place that allows for rapid response to the next pandemic in a more equitable way.

But countries haven't been able to agree on what that system, known as the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing annex (PABS), would actually look like.