Seventy-ninth World Health Assembly – Daily update: 23 May 2026

Delegates at the Seventy-ninth World Health Assembly in Geneva concluded five days of negotiations by adopting more than 20 decisions and 13 resolutions that will shape global health policy over the coming years. The packed agenda spanned clinical priorities such as stroke, liver disease, tuberculosis and antimicrobial resistance, alongside cross-cutting issues including diagnostic imaging, emergency care, precision medicine and radiation safety. Political and administrative reforms also took centre stage, most notably the agreement to overhaul the global health architecture through a Member State-led process convened under WHO leadership. Speaking at the closing ceremony, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus underscored that the true measure of success will be measurable improvements in clinics, communities and households worldwide.

Dr Tedros presented a ceremonial gavel to Dr Víctor Atallah Lajam, Minister of Health of the Dominican Republic, in recognition of his presidency of the Assembly, as well as to Dr Timur Sultangaziyev of Kazakhstan and Dr Kwabena Mintah Akandoh of Ghana, who chaired Committee A and Committee B respectively. “Every resolution you adopt, every agreement you reach, only has value when it changes what happens in a clinic, in a community, or in a household,” Dr Tedros told delegates. “When a health worker has what they need to do their job; when a child is vaccinated; when a mother survives childbirth; when an outbreak is contained before it spreads— that is now the task before us. It will require political commitment, sustained financing, and continued cooperation between Member States, partners and communities.”

In a separate but related development, Member States approved a resolution to amend the WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel, strengthening ethical safeguards for the global movement of health workers. The revised Code now explicitly covers care workers recruited across borders and clarifies its application during emergencies, while encouraging destination countries to co-invest in health systems in countries of origin. Recommendations from an independent Expert Advisory Group informed these changes, highlighting progress in data availability, migrant worker rights and the integration of ethical principles into national policies. The Group nevertheless flagged persistent gaps in implementation support, particularly the need to strengthen health systems in source countries to ensure that international recruitment yields balanced benefits for both sending and receiving nations.

Since its initial adoption in 2010, the Code has provided a voluntary framework for ethical recruitment, but this is the first substantial revision since then. Delegates described the updated text as a critical step toward the vision of universal health coverage and global health security, ensuring that everyone, everywhere can access competent and motivated health and care workers. The Assembly closed with a renewed call for political will, predictable financing and strengthened collaboration to turn adopted resolutions into tangible improvements in health outcomes worldwide.