WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the media briefing – 29 April 2026

Good afternoon and welcome to our friends from ACANU. It's an honour to host you once again here at WHO headquarters.

Congratulations to Dina for your appointment as President of ACANU, and thank you also for recognizing Fadéla.

It feels different when we meet in person like this - not only different, but better than virtual. We would be happy to have you more often.

My thanks to ACANU President Dina Abi Saab and all ACANU members for your continuing interest in the work of WHO.

This is a busy and critical time in the lead up to the World Health Assembly next month, where several critical issues will be considered.

The most significant is the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing system, or PABS - an annex to the WHO Pandemic Agreement, which Member States adopted at the Assembly last year.

As we speak, Member States are negotiating the text of the PABS annex in this building.

They have a come a long way, but they still have more work to do, and key differences remain on key issues.

Nevertheless, where there is a will, there is a way.

I still see a common will to reach consensus, which means I continue to believe there is a way to reach consensus.

The PABS annex is the last remaining piece of the puzzle of the many initiatives that WHO and our Member States have established in response to the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over the past few years, WHO has taken several steps to make the world safer from future emergencies and pandemics.

One of those was to strengthen capacity for local production of vaccines and other tools, through the mRNA Technology Transfer Programme, based in South Africa, and the WHO Biomanufacturing Workforce Training Initiative, based in the Republic of Korea.

Today, WHO announced that we have designated regional training centres in each of WHO's six regions, to build the skilled workforce needed to sustain local production of vaccines and biologics.

The new training centres are in Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Ireland, Senegal and South Africa.

They will operate as part of a coordinated global network, delivering context-specific training aligned with regional priorities, regulatory environments and languages.

Another way we are building national capacity for emergency preparedness is through simulation exercises.

Earlier this week, WHO held Exercise Polaris II, which stress-tested how systems respond to a fictional outbreak of a bacterium spreading across the world.

Exercise Polaris II involved 600 health emergency experts and 25 partner organizations from 26 countries and territories, from all regions and income levels.

Exercise Polaris II is part of HorizonX, WHO's multi-year simulation exercise programme.

It provides a vital platform to test emergency frameworks under real-life conditions, ensuring that collective readiness is not a periodic effort, but a continuous investment.

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Now turning to the Middle East, where the ceasefires remain fragile, and peace discussions have stalled.

In Lebanon, strikes have not stopped, and deaths and injuries continue to be reported.

More than 1 million people are displaced. Some are trying to return to their communities and homes, while others stay in collective shelters with scarce living conditions.

Fifty hospitals and primary health care centres are closed and 16 hospitals have been damaged.

There is a lack of adequate treatment for people who are injured or living with diabetes, hypertension and other noncommunicable diseases.

At the very time they need the health system most, it has been weakened.

Since the conflict began, WHO has verified 149 attacks on health care in Lebanon, in addition to 26 in Iran, and 6 in Israel.

These attacks have resulted directly in 111 deaths and 233 injuries, mainly in Lebanon.

As we always say, the best medicine is peace.

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Now to Haiti, where armed gangs are controlling an estimated 90% of the capital, Port au Prince, and are extending their control to other parts of the country.

More than half of the population is now acutely food insecure, and more than one quarter of children under five admitted to health centres are acutely malnourished.

In Port au Prince, half of all inpatient health facilities are closed or have been destroyed, and only one-third are fully functional.

Sexual violence, including collective rape and sexual exploitation, is increasingly used by gangs as a tool to coerce communities and assert their dominance.

40% of the population - 4.4 million people - have no access to essential health services.

A large outbreak of diphtheria that began earlier this year has so far caused 469 cases, and 7 suspected or confirmed deaths.

WHO is supporting a national response plan, which includes a vaccination campaign targeting almost 600 000 children.

So far this year, WHO has delivered almost 30 metric tons of medicines and medical supplies to 16 health facilities and partners.

We are also supporting the only public referral hospital in Port au Prince, which has enabled more than 7000 patients to access free emergency care and more than 450 women to benefit from caesarean sections.

But we urge the international community to give the right attention to Haiti, which is in a serious crisis.

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Despite the many problems in our world, there is also much good news to celebrate.

For example, today WHO announced that we have validated Australia for eliminating trachoma as a public health problem.

Trachoma is the world's leading infectious cause of blindness, and was especially prevalent in Australia's Indigenous communities.

In 2006, Australia began a national programme to implement the WHO-recommended strategy on trachoma.

It has now become the 30th country globally to be validated for eliminating trachoma as a public health problem, and the third this year, after Libya in February and Algeria earlier this month.

In March, Chile was also verified for elimination of leprosy.

Since 1997, WHO has confirmed the elimination of a neglected tropical disease 90 times in 63 countries.

It shows what's possible with political commitment and the right tools.

And it's not just NTDs. Just last week, WHO validated the Bahamas for eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

Malaria is another example.

Over the past 70 years, WHO has certified 47 countries and one territory as malaria free, and many more countries are on the path.

New tools are giving us hope of finally seeing a malaria-free world.

Last Saturday, the 25th of April, was World Malaria Day.

To mark the day, WHO announced that we have prequalified the first malaria treatment developed specifically for newborns and infants.

Until now, infants with malaria have been treated with formulations intended for older children, which increase the risk of dosing errors, side effects and toxicity.

This new formulation of artemether-lumefantrine helps to close a long-standing treatment gap for some 30 million babies born each year in malaria-endemic areas of Africa.

Earlier this month, WHO also prequalified three new rapid diagnostic tests that can detect strains of malaria that older tests miss.

Prequalification is WHO's stamp of approval for quality, safety and efficacy, and will enable public sector procurement of the medicine.

Together with vaccines, new diagnostics and next-generation mosquito nets, it's another step towards a malaria-free world.

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Another area in which the world has made substantial progress is against hepatitis.

The World Hepatitis Report, published yesterday, shows that since 2015, the annual number of new hepatitis B infections has dropped by 32 percent, and hepatitis C-related deaths have fallen by 12 percent globally.

Thanks to vaccination, hepatitis B prevalence among children under five has also dropped to just 0.6 percent, with 85 countries achieving the 2030 target of 0.1 percent prevalence or less.

Countries including Egypt, Georgia, Rwanda, and the United Kingdom are showing that eliminating hepatitis as a public health problem is achievable.

However, more than 1.3 million people died from hepatitis B and C in 2024, and 287 million people are living with these diseases. The vast majority lack access to treatment.

We have the tools to prevent, diagnose and treat hepatitis. WHO calls on all countries to scale-up access to these tools.

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Finally, tomorrow marks the end of World Immunization Week - an annual reminder of the life-saving power of vaccines.

During World Immunization Week in 2023, WHO, Gavi and UNICEF launched "the Big Catch-Up", an initiative to reach children who had missed out on vaccines, including during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Big Catch-Up concluded at the end of last month, and was a great success.

Together, we delivered over 100 million vaccines doses to an estimated 18.3 million children in 36 countries.

That includes 12.3 million "zero dose" children who had not previously received any vaccines, and 15 million who had never received a measles vaccines.

Measles is a perfect example of the power of vaccines to eliminate diseases from communities and entire countries.

Globally, 95 countries have been verified for eliminating measles, and 115 countries for eliminating rubella.

However, elimination status can be lost, and there are still millions of children globally who miss out on essential vaccines every year.

WHO is continuing to work with Gavi, UNICEF and other partners to support countries to reach those children by expanding routine immunization programmes, as part of every country's journey towards universal health coverage.

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And finally finally, as you may know, our dear friend and colleague Fadéla Chaib is retiring from WHO.

Fadéla has been with WHO for 25 years, and for the past few years, she has led our media relations team here in Geneva - so you know her very well, so thank you again ACANU for recognizing her.

Many of you have known and worked with Fadéla for years. She has played a vital role in helping to tell WHO's story to the world.

I know that you will miss her, just as we will.

Fadéla, thank you for your service and dedication. Shukran jazeelan. We wish you every success in the next chapter of life. You're a very special person.

Once again, many thanks to all of you for joining us today, and we look forward to your questions.

Christian, back to you.