WHO Member States approved a new 10-year global action plan to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR) on Friday after a months-long fight over how the world should share AMR-related medical technologies. The plan, which runs through 2036, maps out strategies for countries to implementing the ambitious targets set at a UN High Level Meeting, including reducing […] Continue reading ->
The 79th World Health Assembly adopted a widely anticipated Global Health Architecture Reform initiative. While WHO and many member states lauded it as a landmark move, the actual mandate is in fact highly restrictive. The process will not yield recommendations on “revisions to organizational mandates nor specific mergers or consolidations” in the often overlapping functions […] Continue reading ->
Sweeping personnel cuts and a massive emergency funding shortfall trigger sharp warnings about acute WHO operational risks from member states and experts. Yet, diverging regional priorities complicate short-term and sustainable financing solutions. GENEVA –Member states sounded alarms over severe WHO budget constraints on Thursday at the World Health Assembly. Delegates warned that a  9.4% staff […] Continue reading ->
A stiffly-worded resolution approved this week by World Health Organization member states condemned the “wanton” destruction of Gaza’s health facilities and “extreme violence of the illegal Israeli settlers.” The decision called on Israel to ensure humanitarian access to Gaza of medicines, fuel, and other essentials, refrain from further destruction of food production and water supplies,  […] Continue reading ->
After a full day of intense diplomatic debate, the World Health Assembly adopted a last-minute compromise text on Friday declining formal recognition of Argentina’s withdrawal notification, and leaving the nation’s legal status unresolved. GENEVA – Delegates at the Seventy-Ninth World Health Assembly in Geneva reached a compromise regarding Argentina’s withdrawal from the global health body. […] Continue reading ->
Liver disease, social media harms and health taxes dominated the World Health Assembly’s (WHA) discussion on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) on Thursday. For the first time, countries resolved to include steatotic liver disease (SLD), which is closely linked to obesity and diabetes, into NCD plans.  Formerly known as fatty liver disease, SLD  affects an estimated 1.7 […] Continue reading ->
Unhealthy indoor air threatens millions of lives. Public health advocates argue that investments in ventilation, air filtration, monitoring, and clean indoor air policies could deliver a rare triple benefit — protecting children’s health, strengthening pandemic preparedness, and creating healthier indoor environments well beyond the next global outbreak. When Dr Georgia Lagoudas testified in front of […] Continue reading ->
The UN General Assembly voted 141-8 to endorse a landmark International Court of Justice opinion finding that states are bound under international law to curb greenhouse gas emissions driving the climate crisis and protect states most affected by its fallout. “Climate change is an unprecedented challenge of civilisational proportions,” the resolution states. “The well-being of […] Continue reading ->
The world is in the last stretch of polio eradication, but closing this gap will require political commitment, the World Health Organization (WHO) told member states at the ongoing 79th session of the World Health Assembly (WHA). Polio virus has shown resurgence in conflict-hit or hard-to-reach areas like northern Yemen, Gaza, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Conflict […] Continue reading ->