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 ->
I sought to lead the World Health Organization (WHO) because the rules of intelligence are becoming the rules of health. My name will not be on the ballot. The responsibility remains. I will now work to organise the political and economic power needed to put intelligence at the service of humanity – and to keep […] 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 ->
The shortlist of five finalists to serve as the next Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria was published on Wednesday (30 September), launching the final phase of its leadership search. By narrowing the global applicant field to five candidates, the Global Fund’s Executive Director Nomination Committee (EDNC) has taken […] Continue reading ->
At the opening of the Pan American Health Organization’s (PAHO)’s annual meeting on Monday, officials celebrated progress made in tackling regional health challenges – despite political and economic challenges. However, the US warned PAHO’s 63rd Directing Council not to stray into “ideological” issues, as it continues to withhold millions in unpaid members’ dues. The opening […] Continue reading ->
Several significant pledges for global health – covering reproductive health, ‘transition’ and Ebola – were made on the fringes of last week’s United Nations General Assembly amid massive donor withdrawal from the sector. Reproductive health, which has suffered massive funding losses, got a $337.8 million boost from the United Kingdom, which announced its pledge at […] Continue reading ->
The Political Declaration on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response was not approved by consensus by the United Nations General Assembly, and is likely to be put to a vote at a later stage on the UN calendar. Objections by the United States and a few other states appeared to block a consensus agreement on the […] Continue reading ->
Following the statutory WHO nomination deadline for the next Director-General, six candidates have now been publicly declared on the agency’s prospective candidate page. While oncologist Dr Gevorg Tamamyan has been proposed in a cross-regional nomination by Botswana, sources with knowledge of the process said Gavi CEO Dr Sania Nishtar was reportedly not nominated by Pakistan. […] Continue reading ->
New research found that after the US administration suspended its embassy air pollution monitoring initiative, air pollution increased by 23-33%, particularly in Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, where reliable monitoring data is scarce. The US’s abrupt shutdown of its embassy air pollution monitoring program in 2025 hit regions with little publicly available data the hardest, […] Continue reading ->