WHO prioritizes pandemic preparedness

The World Health Assembly closed in Geneva on May 23 with pandemic preparedness at the center of the week’s final messaging, after WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that recent Ebola and hantavirus outbreaks showed the world remained exposed to fast-moving infectious threats. WHO said the 79th assembly, held from May 18 to May 23, ended after member states adopted more than 20 decisions and 13 resolutions across a broad set of health issues. Tedros used the closing stretch of the meeting to press for urgent action on Ebola and on wider readiness for future pandemics. UN News reported that he said the outbreaks were a reminder that vulnerability to infectious disease had not receded. ### Why did pandemic preparedness dominate the close of the meeting? Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on May 23 that Ebola and hantavirus had underscored the continuing risk of rapidly spreading disease. UN News reported that he called for urgent action on Ebola and for stronger pandemic preparedness as the assembly wrapped up in Geneva. The warning came days after WHO’s emergency machinery was engaged over Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. (news.un.org) WHO’s own daily update from May 23 showed that the assembly’s formal agenda ranged well beyond outbreaks, covering issues including tuberculosis, antimicrobial resistance, emergency care, diagnostic imaging and precision medicine. Even so, the closing public message from WHO leadership centered on preparedness, surveillance and response capacity after recent outbreaks. That emphasis was visible in the sequencing of WHO’s updates and the director-general’s remarks at the end of the meeting. (news.un.org) ### What did member states actually adopt in Geneva? WHO said member states adopted more than 20 decisions and 13 resolutions during the week-long assembly. The May 23 daily update listed measures on stroke, liver disease, tuberculosis, antimicrobial resistance, haemophilia, radiation and emergency care among the items approved by delegates. The assembly is WHO’s main decision-making body, bringing together member states to set policy and approve resolutions. (who.int) The 79th World Health Assembly ran from May 18 to May 23 in Geneva, according to WHO’s assembly page. WHO said proceedings were webcast and published through daily updates and governance records, giving member states and observers a formal record of the week’s decisions and statements. ### Where did Palestine fit into the final days? The assembly also adopted two measures related to the health situation in the occupied Palestinian territory and the occupied Syrian Golan, according to reports published on May 22 and May 23. (who.int) IMEMC reported that the resolutions passed with broad support, and WAFA separately reported vote counts showing backing for a draft on health conditions in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem. (who.int) WHO has separately described the occupied Palestinian territory as facing severe humanitarian and health pressures in 2026. In a health emergency appeal published earlier this year, the agency said 2.9 million people would require humanitarian health assistance in the territory. ### How did outbreaks and geopolitics meet at this assembly? (imemc.org) Geneva was the setting for both technical health decisions and politically charged debates over conflict, access and emergency response. WHO’s published materials for the assembly show a week that combined discussions on disease control and health systems with votes on conflict-related health conditions. Tedros’ warning on Ebola and hantavirus, delivered as delegates closed the meeting, linked immediate outbreak control with longer-term preparedness. (who.int) WHO’s emergency and governance calendars show that the next institutional steps come quickly. The agency lists the 159th session of the Executive Board for May 25-26, 2026, and keeps assembly documentation, statements and timetables on its governance pages. (who.int 1) (who.int 2)