78th World Health Assembly Held from May 19 to 27, 2025, in Geneva, Switzerland (Part II).

International

In May 2025, the 78th World Health Assembly (WHA78) concluded in Geneva (Switzerland), marking a pivotal moment in global health governance. This annual gathering of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) 194 Member States resulted in several landmark decisions aimed at strengthening global health systems and preparedness.


      - During the plenary session of WHA78, WHO member states formally adopted the world’s first-ever WHO Pandemic Agreement, concluding over three years of intensive negotiations initiated in response to the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

      - Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General (DG) of WHO, conferred the DG’s Award for Global Health 2025 to Professor Awa Marie Coll Seck (Senegal) and Professor Sir Brian Mellor Greenwood (United Kingdom) during a high-level meeting at WHA78.

     

Main Point :-   (i) Six African countries — Chad, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, and Sudan — signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to eliminate visceral leishmaniasis (Kala-azar), one of the deadliest neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).

      (ii) WHO officially confirmed the end of the polio epidemic in Madagascar, with no new cases reported since September 2023.

(iii) WHO adopted a historic resolution to reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) by promoting kidney health and strengthening the prevention and control of kidney disease.

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