Independent journalism is increasingly important to understanding the political and financial forces shaping global health, yet the reporters covering these decisions face growing pressure and an uncertain financial future, according to Priti Patnaik, founder and editor of Geneva Health Files. Speaking with Dr Garry Aslanyan on the Global Health Matters podcast’s Trailblazers with Garry series, […] Continue reading ->
Escalating pandemic risks are outpacing international readiness as the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB) completes its eight-year mandate. The board demands an urgent shift from technical fixes to sustained political commitment and independent oversight, laying out a five-pillar blueprint to translate technical evidence into intergovernmental action. BERLIN – A comprehensive review of global health reforms […] Continue reading ->
Six years after COVID-19, with Ebola Bundibugyo virus still raging in eastern Congo and the pandemic treaty stalled, a packed World Health Summit workshop asked why the world keeps paying for fire engines instead of fire prevention. BERLIN – By the time Katrín Jakobsdóttir opened the session, people were standing two deep along the back […] Continue reading ->
The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Political Declaration on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Response (PPPR) by a substantial majority at a plenary meeting in New York on Monday, with 153 countries voting in favor and only three against. The declaration went to a vote after the UN High-Level Meeting on 25 September could not […] Continue reading ->
BERLIN – As candidates to become WHO director-general squabbled in the halls of the InterContinental, a three-year effort by the Lancet on future health threats delivered a sombre if uncertain warning: There is a chance, however small, that humanity will not survive this century – and we may all die. Two of the extinction threats […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Assembly chooses a new chief for the World Health Organization in May 2027. Before judging the candidates, assess the predecessors. Eight people have held the post over 78 years. Their varied track record offers pointers for selecting the future incumbent. Every five years, WHO rediscovers that its Director-Generalship is a political office […] Continue reading ->
The WHO lists Germany as its largest donor in 2020-21 and second largest since. Those days are ending. The Bundestag is considering a 2027 budget that grows by almost 6%, mostly for defence, while cutting the health ministry’s operational fund to strengthen international health by 15.3%, from €55.9 million to €47.33 million. Of the $262 […] Continue reading ->
Beijing confirmed the nomination of National Health Commission official Dr Song Li for WHO Director-General on Thursday (8 October). The move expands the candidate field to seven amidst severe geopolitical ruptures shaking up the agency, with experts warning this move could further heighten superpower tensions. In announcing the bid, Chinese officials framed the candidacy around […] Continue reading ->
China has nominated a prominent Chinese health official for WHO Director General in the 2027 elections, multiple diplomatic sources have confirmed to Health Policy Watch. But there are mixed reports about who that candidate actually may be. Some high-level sources have cited Song Li, a senior Chinese Communist Party official who mounted a failed bid […] Continue reading ->
Global health has moved from an area of mutual cooperation to one dominated by “high politics” and division, observed Ilona Kickbusch at the European Health Forum Gastein (EHFG) last Friday (2 October). Leading the closing panel, the founder of the Global Health Centre at the Graduate Institute in Geneva, highlighted how recent voting at the […] Continue reading ->