Geneva
Health Week

DESCRIPTION

Alongside the 79th World Health Assembly (WHA79), the Graduate Institute Global Health Centre (GHC) and the United Nations Foundation (UNF) will co-host their annual open briefing, this year titled Can Global Health Make Progress Amid Rupture? Since 2015, this public event has opened the WHA week with a forward-looking exchange on the modalities and defining issues before the Assembly.

Convening delegates, non-state actors, academics, media, and broader audiences, the briefing provides critical analysis of the political, financial, and public health dynamics shaping global health cooperation. The event will be held in a hybrid format—virtually and in person at the Ivan Pictet Auditorium at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies.

Guided by the vision of greater self-reliance for all countries, the global health architecture in 2026 is being realigned through evolving partnerships, funding models, and approaches to diplomacy. A proliferation of reform initiatives has generated both momentum and fragmentation. The 158th WHO Executive Board decision mandating the WHO Secretariat to design a joint process to reconcile and align the various global health reform efforts signals recognition by Member States that coherence is urgently needed. At the same time, global conflict, fiscal constraints, and shifting development priorities are reshaping the landscape for multilateral cooperation.

As countries gather at WHA79, they will confront fundamental questions about how to ensure that the evolving ecosystem of actors, instruments, and norms delivers more equitable, effective, and accountable outcomes. Can Member States forge a shared pathway toward a more coherent and resilient system of global health governance, or will entrenched power dynamics and geopolitical upheaval prevent meaningful reform?

SPEAKERS

To be announced soon.

DESCRIPTION

At a time when multilateralism is buckling, and pandemic threats remain ever present, this event brings together senior policymakers and global health leaders to consider the critical question: Are we ready for the next pandemic threat?

The world faces a confluence of crises – economic instability, conflicts, climate emergencies, and evolving health security threats. At the same time, geopolitical shifts are reshaping international cooperation, while changing political dynamics and declining funding from long-standing donors have caused profound disruption to the global health and development architecture. This raises uncertainty about whether countries will continue to come together to tackle common threats.

Nonetheless, there are reasons for cautious optimism. The amended International Health Regulations, forged from the lessons of COVID-19, are now in force. Momentum for regional self-reliance is growing. The adoption of the Pandemic Agreement in May 2025 – alongside ongoing negotiation on the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing Annex – showed that collective action still commands broad support. But optimism must be earned. Commitments have too often failed to translate into action. Gaps in financing, accountability, and regional manufacturing capacity persist, making us all less safe.

Join the RH Helen Clark and other senior leaders as they explore the state of the world’s readiness to face the next pandemic threat.

SPEAKERS

Opening remarks | Vinh-Kim Nguyen, Co-Director, Global Health Centre and Professor, Anthropology and Sociology, Geneva Graduate Institute

Keynote Address | The Right Hon. Helen Clark, Former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Co-Chair of the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response

• Hanan Al Kuwari, Advisor to the Prime Minister for Public Health Affairs State of Qatar
• Maria Van Kerkhove, Director (a.i.), Department of Epidemic and Pandemic Management, Health Emergencies Programme, World Health Organization
• Els Torreele, Senior Expert in Health Equity, Advisor to The Independent Panel
• Maria Guevara, International Medical Secretary, Médecins Sans Frontières

Moderators

• Ebere Okereke, Advisor to the Director General, Mohamed bin Zayed Foundation for Humanity
• Richard Horton, Editor-in-Chief, The Lancet

Additional speakers will be announced soon.

CO-HOSTED BY

The Global Health Centre‘s International Geneva Global Health Platform and the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response. 

DESCRIPTION

This side event will explore how equitable access to medical countermeasures (MCMs) can be strengthened across the full emergency cycle – from preparedness to response. 

Discussions will explore how national, regional and global systems can better align to ensure that life-saving health products reach all populations. Participants will examine how existing and future investments in the MCM ecosystem can be structured and governed to deliver both equity and efficiency.

The event takes place at a critical juncture in the evolution of the global health emergency architecture. Pending the entry into force of the Pandemic Agreement, countries have endorsed the WHO interim Medical Countermeasures Network (i-MCM-net) as a pragmatic bridge to advance implementation. The i-MCM-net is intended to support coordination across the global MCM architecture, and align ongoing initiatives.

Against this backdrop, this side event will focus on the work required to operationalize the MCM ecosystem, covering the full range of MCMs – from diagnostics and vaccines to therapeutics, personal protective equipment, oxygen, and other priority health products.

SPEAKERS

Keynote Address | Florika Fink-Hooijer, Director-General, European Commission Directorate-General for Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (DG HERA)

• Viroj Tangcharoensathien, Secretary General, International Health Policy Program Foundation and Advisor for Global Health, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand
• Matthias Seiche, Head of the Division Health Policy and Financing, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Germany
• Ifedayo Morayo Adetifa, CEO, FIND – Diagnostics for All
• Maria D. Van Kerkhove, Acting Director of the Department of Epidemic and Pandemic Threat Management, World Health Organization 
• Aurélia Nguyen, Deputy CEO, CEPI – Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations

Moderator | Suerie Moon, Co-Director, Global Health Centre and Professor of Practice, International Relations, Geneva Graduate Institute

Additional speakers will be announced soon.

CO-HOSTED BY

The Global Health Centre‘s International Geneva Global Health Platform, the World Health Organisation (WHO) Department of Epidemic and Pandemic Management, the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority(DG HERA) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).