GENEVA – As global health leaders gathered in Geneva on Monday to commemorate this year’s World Malaria Day, an advocacy forum featuring high-level diplomats addressed the rising threat of antimalarial drug resistance. Celebrations of medical progress and clinical discussions quickly gave way to discussion about a rapidly escalating malaria funding crisis, with more funding cuts […] Continue reading ->
The year 2025 saw significant declines in the number of attacks on healthcare worldwide asa compared to 2024, but events still remain at record high levels in comparison to previous years, said a leading civil society group that tracks incidents last week in Geneva. This grim reality took centre stage at a seminar organized by […] Continue reading ->
As USAID programmes funding vital treatments for HIV/AIDS, malaria, maternal and child health, and other critical needs were imploding across Africa last year, a for-profit social enterprise startup geared up for its first real test. Using medicines procurement as its lever, the Swiss-based startup Axmed called for a radical reboot of national systems — to […] Continue reading ->
Financial innovation is a key, underused tool that can be mustered to strengthen humanitarian outreach in crisis settings, while also strengthening public health systems over the long term, according to a new report published by The Geneva Health Forum. “New sources of financing are developing, breaking with the traditional vision of charitable action financed by […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) has slowed the pace on the development of a Global Plan of Action to advance the health of indigenous peoples globally, with the Executive Board voting on Thursday to delay the plan’s final consideration until May 2027. The draft strategy aims to address the stark health inequities faced by many […] Continue reading ->
A dispute over technology transfer rights pushed the World Health Organization (WHO) to delay its Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) for further informal talks. Instead, the Executive Board approved a compromise drafted by Nepal and Ethiopia on Wednesday to reopen negotiations on intellectual property, specifically regarding “voluntary and mutually agreed technology transfers.” This […] Continue reading ->
Global health organisations have reacted with anger to the new US foreign aid policy, which prohibits all aid recipients, bar military, from performing or promoting abortion, “gender ideology”, or “diversity, equity and inclusion” (DEI). “Catastrophic”, “bullying”, “draconian” and “ideologically driven” – are some of their reactions to the Promoting Human Flourishing in Foreign Assistance (PHFFA) […] Continue reading ->
Only 12 more negotiating days remain until WHO member states hit the May 2026 deadline for an agreement on a Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing (PABS) system, as part of the new Pandemic Agreement adopted at last year’s World Health Assembly (WHA). The gap between developed and developing blocs of countries remains large, and progress […] Continue reading ->
Senior United Nations officials and humanitarian leaders have urged Israel to reverse plans to withhold registration from more three-dozen international NGOs providing humanitarian relief in war-torn Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank – warning that the move would severely undermine life-saving aid in a moment of acute humanitarian need. Israel said last Thursday that some […] Continue reading ->
The post-pandemic decline in infection-prevention practices, along with the broader crash in global health finance, are undermining progress against antimicrobial resistance – one of the planet’s most urgent health threats. At a recent panel discussion co-hosted by the Geneva Health Forum (GHF), leading experts from WHO, academia, biotech, and patient advocacy warned that national AMR plans […] Continue reading ->