WHO kicks off annual assembly amid hantavirus, Ebola crises

GENEVA - The World Health Organization (WHO) opened a meeting of global health ministers on May 18 amid concern over deadly hantavirus and Ebola outbreaks, and uncertainty over announced US and Argentinian withdrawals.

While the rare hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship that has gripped global attention is not officially on the agenda, it is expected to feature prominently in the discussions, alongside the latest Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The two outbreaks “are just the latest crises in our troubled world”, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at the opening of the UN agency’s annual decision-making World Health Assembly.

“From conflicts to economic crises to climate change and aid cuts, we live in difficult, dangerous and divisive times.”

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said the global health challenges “have rarely felt more daunting”.

“Over the past year, cuts to bilateral and multilateral aid have disrupted health systems and widened inequalities,” Mr Guterres said in a video address to the assembly.

The meeting, which runs through May 23, comes after a difficult year for an organisation weakened by the announced US withdrawal and deep funding cuts.

“The WHO’s budget has been reduced by around 21 per cent, or nearly US$1 billion (S$1.28 billion). Hundreds of jobs have been eliminated, programmes have been reduced,” Swiss Health Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider noted in her address.

“The WHO had to, and was able to, undergo profound reform in the midst of the emergency.”

Dr Suerie Moon, co-director of the Global Health Centre at the Geneva Graduate Institute, also suggested that the WHO had weathered the storm. She told the AFP news agency that while the situation is “still fragile... they’ve been successful in mobilising most of the funds” required for the next two years.

The hantavirus crisis provided “a clear illustration of why the world needs an effective, trusted, impartial, reliably funded WHO”, she added.

US, Argentina withdrawals

Significant divisions, however, persist.

Continued disagreement between wealthy and developing nations has, for instance, blocked progress on the key missing piece of the WHO’s landmark 2025 pandemic treaty, with negotiations now expected to be extended for another year.

It also remains unclear what, if anything, would be decided on the US and Argentinian announced withdrawals.

US President Donald Trump, on his first day back in office in January 2025, handed the WHO his country’s one-year withdrawal notice, with Argentina soon following suit.

The WHO, whose Constitution does not include a withdrawal clause, has not confirmed either withdrawal.

The US reserved the right to withdraw when it joined the WHO in 1948 – on condition of giving one year’s notice and meeting its financial obligations in full for that fiscal year.

While the notice period has expired, Washington has still not paid its 2024 or 2025 dues, owing around US$260 million.

When the WHO’s executive board met in January, Israel submitted a resolution to approve Argentina’s withdrawal – something countries are expected to discuss during the assembly – but not a word was said about the US leaving.

Diplomats and observers indicated there was broad agreement that it would be better to maintain a grey zone around the US status.

Election campaign

The assembly will take place as the process towards the 2027 election of a new WHO chief heats up.

No one has yet declared their candidacy, but announcements are possible this week ahead of the nomination deadline of Sept 24.

A number of sensitive resolutions are on the table, including on Ukraine, the Palestinian territories and Iran, which could spark heated debate.

Much of this week’s discussions will centre on whether to launch a formal reform process for the so-called “global health architecture” – a mishmash of organisations that do not always work together and often overlap.

The reform aims to reduce the fragmentation and avoid duplication, and also to ensure that “controversial” issues like climate change and sexual and reproductive health rights are not sacrificed amid dwindling international aid funding.

“Six years after the last global pandemic, Covid-19, the world health architecture is changing rapidly,” Ghana President John Dramani Mahama told the assembly.

“We are witnessing the end of an era. We must have the courage to build the next one.” AFP