On World Health Day, observed annually on April 7, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) calls for global solidarity to fight infectious diseases and urges key global leaders—particularly in Europe—to help deliver it by advancing an equitable World Health Organization Pandemic Agreement, including a binding and enforceable Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing (PABS) Annex. Without equity, there can be no Pandemic Agreement.
World Health Day comes at a critical juncture for global health governance. The Pandemic Agreement, adopted in 2025, cannot open for signature until the PABS Annex is finalized. The Annex determines how countries share genetic sequence information and pathogen samples and how the benefits derived from their use are shared with the system in return.
“At a time when some of the world’s wealthiest countries are stepping back from global health leadership, European leaders at the country and European Union levels have a clear opportunity and responsibility to step forward,” said Daniel Reijer, AHF Europe Bureau Chief. “Europe has long championed equity and solidarity. Now is the moment to turn those values into action by supporting a strong, binding PABS Annex that ensures lifesaving tools reach everyone, everywhere.”
With a May 2026 deadline approaching at the World Health Assembly, AHF, through its Global Public Health Institute, will continue to closely monitor the development of the negotiations, stressing that the Pandemic Agreement cannot move forward without the PABS Annex, which must include binding, enforceable provisions that ensure those who profit from the system also contribute to it. This means mandatory benefit-sharing and relevant technology transfers through binding contracts for participating manufacturers and all commercial users. Benefits must include equitable access to vaccines, diagnostics, and treatments, non-exclusive licenses for manufacturers in developing countries during public health emergencies, and annual financial contributions.
AHF opposes a proposed hybrid or “dual-track” system that would allow companies to access pathogen data without obligations, undermining fair benefit-sharing and ultimately weakening the entire system, and underscores that accountability and transparency are essential to making the system work. User registration and traceability must be required to prevent anonymous exploitation, and civil society must have a meaningful role in oversight to ensure equity is upheld. Without these safeguards, a weak Annex risks repeating the failures of COVID-19—delaying access, deepening inequities, and undermining global health security.
With time running out, AHF urges European leaders to protect the world from infectious diseases by promoting global solidarity, ending delays, and delivering a final agreement that prioritizes cooperation, accountability, and equitable access for all.
On World Health Day 2026, AHF emphasizes that global solidarity must extend beyond future public health emergencies to ongoing infectious disease challenges, including HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. Equitable access to prevention, testing, and treatment remains one of the most effective tools to save lives and prevent new infections worldwide.
AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the world’s largest HIV/AIDS healthcare organization, provides cutting-edge medicine and advocacy to more than 2.9 million individuals across 50 countries, including the U.S. and in Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region, and Eastern Europe. In January 2025, AHF received the MLK, Jr. Social Justice Award, The King Center’s highest recognition for an organization leading work in the social justice arena. To learn more about AHF, visit us online at AIDShealth.org, find us on Facebook, and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok.
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