SOUTH-EAST ASIA (AFP): The World Health Organization said Saturday that talks towards completing the missing piece of a pandemic agreement designed to avoid the panic and chaos of Covid-19 had been extended.
WHO member states have been at the UN health agency's Geneva headquarters since Monday for what had been meant to be a final round of talks.
They were trying to agree on how a key part of the text -- the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) system -- would work in practice.
But the WHO said late Saturday the countries had "agreed to extend negotiations", with fresh talks scheduled to run from April 27 to May 1.
Last May, WHO member states adopted a landmark pandemic agreement on tackling future health crises, after more than three years of talks sparked by the shock of Covid-19.
It aims to prevent future pandemics suffering the disjointed international response that characterised the approach to the coronavirus crisis.
But talks on the (PABS) system -- the heart of the treaty -- was put to one side to get the deal over the line.
It deals with sharing access to dangerous pathogens with pandemic potential, then sharing the benefits derived from them: vaccines, tests and treatments.
But observers said the sides remained deeply divided during the week's negotiations.
Several countries, especially in Africa, want assurances that once they share pathogen data, they will have access to anything developed using that information.
European countries however, especially those with big pharmaceutical industries, have warned that compulsory benefit-sharing risks stifling research and development.
"There are unfortunately different views on how we can make sure that this system works," said one Western diplomatic source ahead of the talks.
The WHO said Saturday that its member states had recognised that more time was needed.
The countries have been tasked with getting PABS finalised by the next World Health Assembly, the WHO's decision-making body, in mid-May.
On Saturday, as the talks were again adjourned, Michel Kazatchkine, member of The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, issued a similar message.
Urging member states to keep working towards common ground, he added: "Their hard work in the weeks ahead can make our world safer for the future."
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned countries at the start of the talks that they had to get the job done.
"The next pandemic will not wait," he said. -- AFP
