Who will steer the World Health Organization through its next chapter? Explore Health Policy Watch’s daily series examining the platforms, records, and institutional hurdles facing each contender for WHO Director-General, continuing today with Dr Hanan H. Balkhy. Access all candidate profiles on our dedicated election site. Saudi Arabia’s nomination of Dr Hanan H. Balkhy, an […] Continue reading ->
Who will steer the World Health Organization through its next chapter? Explore Health Policy Watch’s daily series examining the platforms, records, and institutional hurdles facing each contender for WHO Director-General, starting today with Hanan Al Kuwari. Access all candidate profiles on our dedicated election site. The State of Qatar has nominated former minister of public […] Continue reading ->
Escalating pandemic risks are outpacing international readiness as the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB) completes its eight-year mandate. The board demands an urgent shift from technical fixes to sustained political commitment and independent oversight, laying out a five-pillar blueprint to translate technical evidence into intergovernmental action. BERLIN – A comprehensive review of global health reforms […] Continue reading ->
The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Political Declaration on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Response (PPPR) by a substantial majority at a plenary meeting in New York on Monday, with 153 countries voting in favor and only three against. The declaration went to a vote after the UN High-Level Meeting on 25 September could not […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Assembly chooses a new chief for the World Health Organization in May 2027. Before judging the candidates, assess the predecessors. Eight people have held the post over 78 years. Their varied track record offers pointers for selecting the future incumbent. Every five years, WHO rediscovers that its Director-Generalship is a political office […] 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 ->
It’s been barely three years since the COVID-19 pandemic ended, yet many world leaders appear to have little appetite for pandemic-proofing. Ahead of the UN High-Level Meeting on Pandemics, a major 20-country research project offers a blueprint for the future that could save millions more lives. The United Nations hosts a High-Level Meeting on Pandemics […] Continue reading ->
The world has ridden fast to rescue DRC from Ebola. But four months on, nobody can say for sure how many agencies are responding, how many people they employ, how much money has arrived, or what it bought. There are, however, coordinators galore. But the virus is still outwitting them. Time and again, we learn […] Continue reading ->
As countries continue negotiating the unfinished WHO Pandemic Agreement, one of the original accord’s architects warns that delays could put the process itself at risk. “I think it’s quite risky to have a too-long negotiation because that means that we will lose diplomats and public health experts who were involved at the very beginning,” said […] Continue reading ->
The Ebola Bundibugyo virus outbreak is showing early signs of containment in the Ituri province in the northeastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where it first surfaced in April. But in North Kivu province, to the south, cases are still rising fast, with weekly cases nearly doubling over the past two weeks, […] Continue reading ->