WHO and Brazil's Lula call on G7 to finalize pandemic treaty

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and World Health Organization Director‑General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyess​u issued a joint letter urging global leaders, especially the G7, to complete the outstanding annex of the pandemic treaty that governs pathogen sharing and benefit‑sharing. They stressed the need for high‑level political will, equity in access to vaccines and treatments, and urgency, noting a roughly 25% chance of another pandemic within the next decade.

The letter highlighted the human and economic toll of COVID‑19 – up to 20 million deaths and $13 trillion in lost production – and called for the July 6‑17 negotiations to finalize the annex. Lula will attend the G7 summit in Évian, France, as a guest to press the case. Without the annex, the treaty cannot enter into force, leaving the world unprepared for future outbreaks.