In an eleventh-hour move, World Health Assembly member states on Monday deferred a final vote on a draft WHO Action plan on Climate Change and Health until Tuesday morning – in an effort to find a last-minute compromise with a bloc of oil-rich states trying to put the plan on ice. The move followed a […] Continue reading ->
“We don’t need faster horses, we need a new model of global health,” says Professor Helen Rees, who received the World Health Organization’s (WHO) 2025 Dr Lee Jong-wook Memorial Prize on Friday for her “outstanding contribution to public health”. “If there isn’t going to be money, we shouldn’t be trying to run the same things […] Continue reading ->
Chikwe Ihekweazu, the first director-general of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and currently head of the Health Emergencies Programme for the World Health Organization, believes that greater African leadership in global health organizations would benefit everyone. “These roles require not only technical competence, but also empathy and compassion, which I believe can only develop […] Continue reading ->
The world’s leading polio eradication programme faces a 40% budget cut next year as the paralysis-causing virus surges in its last strongholds of Afghanistan and Pakistan and war-torn regions, threatening to reverse decades of progress toward eradicating the disease. “The Global Polio Eradication Initiative is facing a 40% budget cut in 2026,” Dr Hanan Balkhy, […] Continue reading ->
The 78th World Health Assembly picked up momentum Saturday as countries adopted a Nigeria-sponsored initiative to stimulate more public health spending; and first-ever WHO resolutions recognizing rare diseases and neglected skin diseases as global equity issues. The resolution on strengthening health finance globally aims to accelerate progress towards long standing commitments on financing Universal Health Coverage. […] Continue reading ->
In a rare moment for the World Health Assembly, delegates expanded their debates beyond the usual lexicon of disease pathogens to address something far more intimate: loneliness. The Assembly approved a first-ever resolution on Fostering social connection for global health: the essential role of social connection in combating loneliness, social isolation and inequities in health, […] Continue reading ->
“This is the most important year in the history of non-communicable diseases (NCDs),” declared Richard Horton, editor of The Lancet, at the World Heart Federation’s (WHF) 2025 Summit on the eve of the World Health Assembly (WHA). ON 25 September, the United Nations (UN) hosts the Fourth High-Level Meeting (HLM) on NCDs and mental health. […] Continue reading ->
WHO’s Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made an emotional appeal to Israel on Thursday to end its 80-day blockade of food, medicine and other humanitarian aid into Gaza, asking “if you can have mercy?” and adding: “the war is hurting Israel, and it will not bring a lasting solution.” Fighting back tears, the Director […] Continue reading ->
Thirty-five million tons of plastic waste have been dumped into the world’s oceans since negotiations on the United Nations plastics treaty began in Uruguay two years ago. When delegates gather for the final session of UN Environment Programme (UNEP) led talks in Geneva in August, known as INC-5.2, around 1.2 billion tons of unrecycled plastic […] Continue reading ->
Addressing today’s global health challenges requires more than funding and innovation—it demands humility, open communication, and a shared commitment to collective action, according to IFPMA Director-General David Reddy. Reddy, speaking at an IFPMA side event during the 78th World Health Assembly, acknowledged the socio-political and financial barriers facing global health systems. However, he urged the […] Continue reading ->