Pandemic deal, tight budget on menu at big WHO meet
GENEVA
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), talks during a press conference organized by the Geneva Association of United Nations Correspondents (ACANU), at the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland, Thursday, May 1, 2025.
Next week promises to be a crucial one for the World Health Organization (WHO), with member states coming together in Geneva to adopt a landmark pandemic agreement and a slimmed-down budget amid U.S. funding cuts.
Dozens of high-ranking officials and thousands of delegates are set to gather for the United Nations health agency's annual decision-making assembly from May 19 to 27.
"This huge gathering comes at a pivotal moment for global health," Catharina Boehme, WHO's assistant director-general for external relations and governance, told reporters.
It comes as countries are confronting "emerging threats and major shifts in the landscape for global health and international development," she said.
More than five years after the emergence of COVID-19, which killed millions of people, much of the focus next week will be on the expected adoption of a hard-won international agreement on how to better protect against and tackle future pandemics.
After more than three years of negotiations, countries reached consensus on a text last month but final approval by the World Health Assembly is needed, a discussion expected to take place on May 20.
The United States, which has thrown the global health system into crisis by slashing foreign aid spending, was not present during the final stretch of the talks.
U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a withdrawal from the WHO and from the pandemic agreement talks after taking office in January.
The agreement "is a jab in the arm for multilateralism, even if it is multilateralism in this case without the U.S.", said a European diplomat who asked not to be named.
Also high on the agenda next week will be the dramatic overhaul of WHO operations and finances.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told member states last month that the agency would need to slim down due to deep U.S. funding cuts.
The agency has been bracing for Trump's planned full withdrawal of the United States, by far its largest donor, next January.
