WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the media briefing – 5 March 2026

Good morning, good afternoon and good evening.

And a special welcome to our guests today: His Excellency Minister Nadda, His Excellency Minister Motsoaledi and our Regional Director Dr Balkhy.

You will be hearing from them in a few moments.

Today, WHO is providing an update on three diseases where we are supporting countries to use powerful new tools to prevent disease and save lives: obesity, HIV and cervical cancer.

Yesterday marked World Obesity Day.

Obesity is one of the greatest health challenges of our time - but it is a challenge that we have more and more tools to address, including GLP-1 therapies.

In December last year, WHO issued our first guideline on the use of GLP-1 therapies for treating obesity in adults.

Medication alone will not reverse obesity, but it can help as part of a comprehensive approach that includes healthy diets, regular physical activity and support from health professionals.

The guidelines generated significant global attention and interest from countries who want to integrate GLP-1s into obesity care.

WHO is supporting them to do that. Yesterday, colleagues from WHO published a paper in The Lancet Global Health on our work to prepare health systems in 12 countries to strengthen obesity services, including GLP-1 therapies.

Through the WHO Acceleration Plan to Stop Obesity, we are supporting 34 countries, representing 1.3 billion people, to reduce obesity prevalence across all age groups by 5% by 2030.

Many countries are taking action - from taxing sugary drinks to integrating obesity care into primary health care systems.

WHO calls on countries to scale up the use of all tools to prevent and treat obesity at all ages.

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One of the other defining public health challenges of the past 50 years is HIV.

But it's also one of the defining public health successes.

Once a death sentence, HIV can now be controlled with safe and effective medication.

As a result, the number of annual AIDS-related deaths has dropped by 70% in the past 20 years.

In recent years, the same medicines that are used to treat HIV infection have also been used to prevent it in people at risk.

Last year, a new medicine was approved for the prevention of HIV - lenacapavir - that is the most important development in addressing HIV since the first antiretrovirals were approved almost 40 years ago

Lenacapavir is not a vaccine, but it's the next best thing: a long-acting antiretroviral, taken once every six months by people who are HIV-negative but at risk of infection.

In trials, it has been shown to prevent almost all cases of HIV in those at risk.

In July last year, WHO published guidelines on the use of lenacapavir, and in October we prequalified it - the WHO stamp of approval that gives the green light to the Global Fund to buy the medicine and begin shipping it to countries.

It's the first time WHO has developed prequalification and guidelines in parallel, not in sequence, to speed up equitable access to innovative new tools.

In the past eight months, WHO has supported nine countries to roll out lenacapavir to people at risk of HIV: Eswatini, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

In October last year, South Africa's national regulator became the first in Africa to approve lenacapavir, and only the third globally.

In his State of the Nation address last month, President Cyril Ramaphosa said that South Africa is planning a massive rollout of lenacapavir.

And just today, South Africa announced that it plans to manufacture lenacapavir locally.

One of the challenges we face is that demand is outstripping what countries have ordered from donors, who buy lenacapavir from manufacturers.

WHO is working with countries, donors and manufacturers to meet this demand.

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Another powerful tool that is changing the face of public health is the HPV vaccine, which together with screening and treatment, is giving the world hope of eliminating cervical cancer.

Yesterday was HPV Awareness Day, drawing attention to a family of viruses that are responsible for several cancers, including cervical cancer.

In 2018, I issued a global call for action to eliminate cervical cancer, which was followed in 2020 by a Global Strategy with the 90-70-90 targets:

90% of girls vaccinated;

70% of women screened;

And 90% of women with cervical cancer or pre-cancerous lesions treated, all by 2030.

Since then, nearly 60 countries have introduced HPV vaccination, and 162 countries now include the vaccine as part of their national immunization schedules.

Today we are proud to celebrate two countries that are making major progress towards cervical cancer elimination: India and South Africa.

Last week, India announced the largest free HPV vaccination campaign in history, targeting almost 12 million girls aged 14 every year.

More than 127 000 women in India are diagnosed with cervical cancer annually, and about 80 000 women die from the disease.

I commend Prime Minister Modi and the Government of India for their leadership on this critical issue.

To say more, I'm delighted to welcome India's Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Minister J.P. Nadda.

Minister, congratulations and thank you for making the time to join us today. You have the floor. Namaste.

[MINISTER NADDA ADDRESSED THE MEDIA]

Thank you Minister once again for your time and leadership. WHO looks forward to supporting you on this journey.

Now to South Africa.

I referred earlier to President Ramaphosa's State of the Nation address last month in which he announced plans for a massive rollout of lenacapavir.

In the same speech, he also committed to ensuring every girl between 9 and 14 receives an HPV vaccine.

WHO is supporting South Africa to develop a comprehensive national strategy for cervical cancer elimination.

To say more, I'm delighted to welcome South Africa's Minister of Health, Minister Aaron Motsoaledi.

Dr Motsoaledi, thank you for making time to join us today. You have the floor.

[MINISTER MOTSOALEDI ADDRESSED THE MEDIA]

Thank you Minister, for your time and leadership. WHO is committed to supporting you on this journey and to realizing your vision for the elimination of cervical cancer.

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Finally, WHO is deeply concerned about the conflict in the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Middle East, with 16 countries affected.

So far, almost 1000 deaths have been reported in Iran, 50 in Lebanon, 13 in Israel and 11 in other gulf countries.

In addition, WHO has verified 13 attacks on health care in Iran, and one in Lebanon.

Under international humanitarian law, health care must be protected and not attacked.

The conflict is also causing significant displacement. So far, an estimated 100 000 people have left Iran, and in Lebanon, more than 60 000 people have been displaced, and at least 1 million people may be on the move following evacuation orders in the south.

The threat of nuclear facilities being impacted is also concerning: any compromise to nuclear safety could have serious public health consequences.

WHO is working closely with our offices in the affected countries to monitor the impact on the delivery of health services, and provide support when needed and requested.

But the impact goes beyond the immediately affected countries.

Operations at WHO's Logistics Hub for Global Health Emergencies in Dubai are currently on hold due to insecurity.

To say more, I'm pleased to welcome WHO's Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, Dr Hanan Balkhy.

Dr Balkhy, thank you for joining us at this difficult time for the region. You have the floor.

[DR BALKHY ADDRESSED THE MEDIA]

Thank you, Dr Balkhy, and all our colleagues in the region, for your leadership at this time.

As always, the best medicine is peace.

Christian, back to you.