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Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Framework
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Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Framework

WHO framework adopted in 2011 for sharing influenza viruses and the benefits from them.

The Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Framework still covers flu alone after WHO talks on a wider pathogen-sharing annex built on its model broke up in Geneva on 18 September 2026 with no agreed text.

Last refreshed: 4 October 2026

Timeline for Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Framework

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Background

The Pandemic Influenza Preparedness (PIP) Framework is WHO's rulebook for sharing influenza viruses with pandemic potential, and for what countries receive in return. The World Health Assembly adopted it unanimously on 24 May 2011 as resolution WHA64.5.

Laboratories that receive viruses sign a standard material transfer agreement, SMTA2. Vaccine and drug makers pay an annual Partnership Contribution of $28m towards pandemic preparedness, according to WHO.

It grew out of a dispute that began in late 2006, when Indonesia stopped sharing H5N1 bird flu samples with WHO, because it could not afford the vaccines made from them. The framework took four years of talks. The 2009 H1N1 pandemic showed how much fair vaccine access still depended on that bargain.

Key Issues
Pathogen sharing

The wider version keeps slipping

The framework trades access to flu viruses for benefits such as vaccine doses. WHO members are trying to extend that bargain to every pathogen through the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing annex to the Pandemic Agreement. On 19 May 2026 the World Health Assembly deferred the annex to May 2027.

The eighth session of talks closed in Geneva on 18 September with no agreed text, the second in a row. With the wider treaty still unsigned, the 2011 framework remains the working example of a samples-for-benefits deal. It covers influenza only, which leaves samples of any other new pathogen to be shared without such rules.

Common Questions
What is the WHO Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Framework?
A WHO framework adopted on 24 May 2011 that governs the sharing of flu viruses with pandemic potential and gives developing countries better access to vaccines in return.Source: https://www.who.int/initiatives/pandemic-influenza-preparedness-framework
Why was the PIP Framework created?
Indonesia stopped sharing H5N1 samples with WHO in late 2006, arguing vaccines made from them were priced beyond its reach. Four years of talks produced the framework in May 2011.Source:
How much do drugmakers pay under the PIP Framework?
Vaccine and drug makers pay an annual Partnership Contribution of US$28m towards pandemic preparedness, according to WHO.Source: https://www.who.int/initiatives/pandemic-influenza-preparedness-framework
Source Material
Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Framework