The World Health Assembly is WHO's supreme decision-making body, with delegates from all 194 member states. WHA79 meets in Geneva from 18-23 May 2026 and is expected to authorise continued PABS negotiations.Source: WHO

What decisions will WHA79 make about the pandemic treaty?

WHA79 is expected to formally authorise continuation of IGWG negotiations on the PABS annex through mid-2027, following the May 2026 failure to resolve the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing deadlock.Source: WHO IGWG

What are the 2024 IHR amendments and what does WHA79 do with them?

The 2024 IHR amendments introduced a new Pandemic Emergency tier above the PHEIC and updated response obligations. WHA79 is expected to review their implementation, one year after they came into force.Source: WHO

Background

The 79th World Health Assembly (WHA79) convenes in Geneva from 18 to 23 May 2026. The World Health Assembly is the supreme decision-making body of the World Health Organization, meeting annually and comprising delegates from all 194 WHO member states. WHA sessions adopt WHO's budget, elect the Director-General when required, amend the International Health Regulations, and pass resolutions that shape global health policy.

WHA79 carries two pandemic governance agenda items of direct relevance to this topic. First, it is expected to formally authorise continued PABS negotiations through the IGWG into mid-2027, following the 1 May 2026 agreement to extend after the resumed 6th IGWG session failed to close the PABS annex. Without WHA79 authorisation, the negotiating mandate lapses. Second, WHA79 is expected to Conduct a review of the 2024 International Health Regulations (IHR) amendments, which introduced the new Pandemic Emergency tier above Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) and updated response co-ordination obligations.

WHA79's decisions carry legal weight — IHR amendments and the WHO Pandemic Agreement negotiating mandate are both within its formal authority. Its session is, however, subject to the bloc dynamics that have characterised pandemic governance negotiations since 2022: the African Group, BRICS alignment, and high-income country blocs each approach PABS from structurally different positions, and no faction has signalled readiness to concede the core point.

WHA79's PABS agenda item resolved on the side of deferral: the assembly extended the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing negotiating mandate through the Intergovernmental Working Group into 2027 rather than adopting the annex, after the resumed sixth IGWG session had already failed to close it . That deferral is the direct predecessor to the seventh IGWG session, which opened in Geneva on 6 July 2026 under a head-of-state Deadline of 17 July set by Brazilian President Lula and Director-General Tedros .