WHO and Brazil Call on World Leaders to Endorse a Global Pandemic Agreement

June 15, 2026 Healthy injury

Luis Inácio Lula da Silva and Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus emphasized that the global community bears responsibility before humanity. The world must not allow a repetition of a pandemic-scale catastrophe.COVID-19, which claimed about 20 million lives and cost the global economy 13 trillion dollars.

They recalled that in 2020, at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals were overcrowded, people lost loved ones, were left in isolation, and medical workers faced an unprecedented workload. This collective traumatic experience prompted governments to give the world a promise: never again to face a pandemic unprepared.

“Act of Hope” in a fractured world

A little more than a year ago, the countries made an important step by adoptingWHO agreement on pandemic preparedness. They therefore committed themselves to cooperating much more actively in this area.

“In today’s divided world, such a result was not guaranteed at all,” the letter says. “This has become an act of hope and a manifestation of mutual trust. We are turning to you now because this hope has not yet been realized, and it is precisely in your hands that the possibility to bring it to life lies.”

The main obstacle on this path remains the application [to the agreement] on the System for Access to Pathogens and Benefit-Sharing (PABS). The President of Brazil and the head of the WHO indicated that this crucial element of the agreement has not yet been finalized.

This data harmonization is necessary for countries to promptly identify dangerous pathogens and exchange their genetic data. Only in this way will scientists be able to develop tests, treatment methods, and vaccines in time.

The joint statement emphasizes: without this appendix, the Pandemic Agreement cannot officially come into force, and therefore, the promise of the world leaders will remain unfulfilled.

Resolve disagreements

The refinement of the PABS application is associated with a whole range of complex problems. The main disputes revolve around how exactly to guarantee the fair distribution of drugs obtained thanks to the study of pathogen data, and what mechanisms will ensure the transparency of this process.

It was these very issues that remained unresolved at the time, which led to significant problems in protecting the population during COVID-19.

Another round of negotiations, aimed at resolving these disagreements, is scheduled for the period from July 6 to 17.

Three key requirements

In their appeal to world leaders, the authors highlighted three fundamentally important requirements:

• State leaders must make the refinement of the application a priority task and empower their negotiators with the authority to achieve acceptable compromises. The authors particularly noted: the agreement does not infringe on the sovereignty of countries and does not give the WTO the right to impose quarantine or mandatory vaccination. Such decisions remain exclusively under the control of the states themselves.

• The PABS system is built on the principle of honest partnership. Countries that promptly share samples of pathogens must be confident that the vaccines and medicines eventually created will reach their citizens. This approach proves that pandemic prevention is not charity, but a pragmatic strategy: curbing outbreaks at an early stage allows for saving resources and lives. Universal access to vaccinations and medicines must be guaranteed by clear and stable rules that replace the current chaotic practice, when decisions are made situationally during the peak of yet another crisis.

• According to scientists, the probability of a new pandemic arising in the next decade is almost 25 percent. Changing ecological and social factors lead to the emergence of new disease outbreaks worldwide, and the development of biotechnology increases the risks of accidental or deliberate virus leaks. The letter contains a call to consider July 17 as the final deadline for adopting the agreement.

New chapter

The letter’s authors warn that the current outbreaks of diseases (for example, Ebola variants in several countries, against which there is still no approved vaccine) clearly illustrate existing threats.

Reminding of the colossal human and economic loss from COVID-19, they emphasized: against this backdrop, investments in early detection and response systems (such as the PABS mechanism) appear modest and absolutely insufficient.

In the past, humanity has already united to save millions of lives: together we have defeated smallpox, practically eradicated poliomyelitis, and learned to effectively fight HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria.

“The completion of work on this agreement is not a departure from previous traditions,” the authors concluded. “This is a natural continuation of our common history, and this goal is quite achievable.”