Global Leaders Urged to Finalize Pandemic Pathogen Access Rules by July

In a joint open letter issued at the G7 Summit, President Lula and WHO Director-General Tedros urge leaders to finalize the WHO Pandemic Agreement’s Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing annex by the July session, arguing that political will, equity, and urgency are essential for the treaty to enter into force; they emphasize sovereignty remains intact, warn that delaying would raise avoidable health and economic costs, and note negotiations resume July 6–17 to close remaining gaps and speed access to vaccines and treatments born from shared pathogens.