The EU at the WHA

In his opening address, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus highlighted the ongoing transformation of the WHO to better meet the evolving needs of Member States and urged them to accelerate progress on global health priorities with urgency and solidarity. He emphasized the critical need to strengthen health systems, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, in order to ensure universal health coverage and improve emergency preparedness.

As the EU and its 27 Member States stated during the General Debate on 19 May 2026: "We thank the Organisation's leadership and staff for advancing reforms and re-prioritise in order to meet the challenges faced by WHO. It is essential that WHO continues this transformation to further strengthen efficiency, renew its focus on its constitutional mandate, and remain independent, sustainably financed and fit-for-purpose in a highly constrained resource environment."

Dr Tedros also noted that recent outbreaks of Hantavirus and Ebola serve as stark reminders of the critical importance of the WHO Pandemic Agreement and underscored the urgent need for Member States to finalise the Annex on PABS (Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing System). The Assembly subsequently agreed to extend the negotiations for another year.

Throughout the week, the Assembly addressed WHO emergency response efforts in Ukraine and the Middle East, alongside a diverse range of technical issues.

Member States adopted eight technical resolutions addressing key health priorities, including steatotic liver disease, precision medicine, pharmacovigilance, haemophilia, radiation safety, reducing the burden of stroke, equitable access to diagnostic imaging, and the Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel.

The Assembly also approved the updated Antimicrobial Resistance Global Action Plan and gave the green light to the proposed WHO-hosted process to support reforms of the global health architecture (GHA). In this context, a cross-regional group of countries, including the EU and GCC members, noted: "The reform process should map the roles and mandates of global health actors and address existing gaps, duplications, and coordination challenges. It should deliver proposals that are implementable and effective with tangible impact on the ground. In this regard, it is essential that the process remains inclusive and takes into account the perspectives of a broad range of actors."

In his closing remarks, WHA79 President Dr Victor Elias Atallah Lajam, Minister of Public Health and Social Assistance of the Dominican Republic, expressed his gratitude to Member States, noting that even in difficult times, the world can still come together to listen to one another and focus on what matters most: health. Diseases do not respect borders and that no nation can address today's challenges alone, as all countries depend on one another.