IGWG7 opened in Geneva on 6 July 2026 and is scheduled to run to 17 July, the Deadline named by President Lula and WHO Director-General Tedros in a 15 June open letter.Source: event

What does the Ebola outbreak mean for IGWG negotiations?

DRC is sharing Bundibugyo sequence data in real time with no treaty-guaranteed vaccine access, making the PABS equity gap concrete. African states argue this validates demands for mandatory benefit-sharing before IGWG7.Source: WHO/DRC

Why has the IGWG failed to resolve the PABS annex after six sessions?

The core disagreement between high-income countries (voluntary benefit-sharing) and lower-income countries (mandatory dose-sharing and IP waiver) has not moved substantially. No country has publicly identified itself as the blocking party.Source: WHO

Background

The Intergovernmental Working Group on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response (IGWG) is the WHO member-state negotiating body established by the 78th World Health Assembly in May 2025 to conclude the legally binding Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) annex to the WHO Pandemic Agreement. It was created because the Pandemic Agreement was adopted with PABS unresolved; member states mandated the IGWG to finish what the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) could not between 2022 and 2025.

The IGWG's composition mirrors the INB: all WHO member states participate, with negotiations structured around the African Group, Asia-Pacific bloc, EU and high-income country groupings, and BRICS-aligned states. The core fault line (mandatory versus voluntary benefit-sharing, and the scope of intellectual property waiver obligations) has not shifted materially between the INB and IGWG phases. No country has publicly identified itself as the blocking party; WHO's post-session language consistently uses formulations such as 'differences will be overcome' without identifying a mechanism to break the deadlock.

The resumed 6th IGWG session concluded on 1 May 2026 without resolving PABS, producing agreement only to extend negotiations to a 7th session scheduled for 6-17 July 2026 . The 79th World Health Assembly (May 2026) formally authorised this extension and extended the negotiating mandate through mid-2027, with fallback provision for a special session if a text is ready earlier . The Bundibugyo outbreak has given IGWG7 concrete urgency: DRC shares sequence data in real time under no treaty obligation to receive vaccines in return, demonstrating live the equity failure the Agreement was designed to prevent .

IGWG7, the seventh negotiating session on the WHO Pandemic Agreement's Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) annex, opened in Geneva on 6 July 2026 and runs to 17 July. Brazilian President Lula and WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had named 17 July "a Deadline, not a milestone" in a 15 June open letter to the G7, G20 and BRICS, the first time a head of state put his name to the PABS push. The session carries concrete urgency from the active Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak, in which DRC is sharing sequence data in real time with no treaty obligation on the receiving end to guarantee vaccine access in return, a live version of the equity failure the annex is meant to fix.