STATEMENT
79th World Health Assembly, 18 - 23 May 2026
Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services
Item 13.3 - Open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group on the WHO Pandemic Agreement. Norway.
Norway’s National Statement
Thank you chair
When we celebrated the adoption of the Pandemic Agreement at last year’s assembly, we all recognized that there was still work to come – the PABS annex, one of the key elements, still needed to be negotiated.
We knew this wouldn’t be easy and welcome the opportunity to carry this important work further in the coming year. We remain committed to finding workable solutions that deliver more equitable access to vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics for pathogens with pandemic potential, while enabling a robust R&D landscape to deliver the innovations we need.
Norway will continue to work with all Member States, to dig into the details, to ensure that when the IGWG does finish its crucial task, that we will have developed a PABS Annex, as part of the Pandemic Agreement, that that will strengthen global public health preparedness and delivers on equity.
Thank you.