Member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) gather in Geneva on Monday for their annual meeting amid growing concerns over deadly hantavirus and Ebola outbreaks, as well as uncertainty surrounding announced withdrawal plans by the U.S. and Argentina.
Although the rare hantavirus outbreak linked to a cruise ship is not officially included on the agenda, it is expected to dominate discussions alongside the newly reported Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
A diplomatic source, who asked not to be identified, said it would be interesting to see how such outbreaks are used by WHO "to promote other things", including "to pressure (the U.S. and Argentina) not to go".
The meeting of the WHO's annual decision-making assembly, which runs through Saturday, comes after a difficult year for the organisation. It has been weakened by the announced U.S. withdrawal and by funding cuts that have forced it to slash its budget and staff numbers.
"We are stable now and moving forward," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus insisted at the end of April.
