WHO assembly opens under shadow of Ebola, hantavirus and funding cuts
Health ministers and diplomats are in Geneva for the 79th World Health Assembly – a week of negotiations on key topics such as pandemic preparedness, health financing and how to manage public health across borders to save the most lives.WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus used the opening session to argue that recent crises had reinforced the need for stronger international cooperation rather than fragmentation.“From conflicts to economic crises to climate change and aid cuts, we live in difficult, dangerous and divisive times,” Tedros told delegates.
Cooperation criticalThe Assembly convened just one day after the WHO chief declared a public health emergency of international concern over an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) that has spread into neighbouring Uganda.At the same time, the agency continues coordinating the international response to the hantavirus outbreak aboard the cruise ship MV Hondius, which arrived in the Netherlands on Monday following a complex evacuation and repatriation operation led jointly by Spain and WHO in Tenerife in the Canary Islands.The remaining crew members who sailed the vessel to the Netherlands now begin a 42-day quarantine period while the ship undergoes full cleaning and disinfection.Tedros said both emergencies underscored the continued importance of rapid international coordination in responding to cross-border health threats.Pressure risingThe session in Geneva comes at a turbulent moment for international health systems, as humanitarian crises, climate-related shocks and widening economic pressures increasingly strain public health responses.WHO itself has faced growing financial uncertainty following steep reductions in donor funding over the past year, forcing the organization to restructure programmes and reduce staffing.According to WHO budget documents, unpaid assessed contributions from current and previous financial periods totalled nearly $360 million at the end of 2025.Key reformsTedros acknowledged the impact of the cuts but insisted WHO had emerged more resilient after nearly a decade of reforms.“We have now completed the restructuring process,” he said. “We have reached a position of stability and are moving forward, with purpose and confidence.”He argued that reforms launched nine years ago had already transformed the organization’s scientific, emergency and financial health.Among the initiatives highlighted were the creation of the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence in Berlin, the mRNA Technology Transfer Hub in South Africa and the Pandemic Fund established jointly with the World Bank, which has provided $1.4 billion in grants to 128 countries.
