TEHRAN – An Iranian delegation headed by Health Minister Mohammad-Reza Zafarqandi will participate in the 78th World Health Assembly (WHA), which is scheduled to be held from May 19 to June 27 in Geneva, Switzerland.

Focusing on the 2025 theme ‘One World for Health’, WHA78 will bring together high-level country representatives to address health challenges. This year’s gathering comes at a pivotal moment for global health, as Member States confront emerging threats and major shifts in the landscape for global health and international development.

This year’s theme underscores the World Health Organization’s (WHO) enduring commitment to solidarity and equity, highlighting that even in unprecedented times, everyone, everywhere, should have an equal chance to live a healthy life.  

During the meeting, participants will discuss and reflect on current and future priorities and challenges facing global health as per related documents, as well as the member states will declare their ideas about each document, IRNA quoted Alireza Biglari, an official with the health ministry, as saying.

Zafarqandi will present a statement on 35 specific documents related to the country’s health system; these include 29 documents on general health activities, and six focus on the activities of different departments, and international cooperation, the official noted.

Moreover, other topics such as the budget and financial issues, the membership status of the member states, auditing, and issues raised in the executive board session of the WHO will be reviewed by specialized committees.

In the 78th WHA, a total of 56 topics will be discussed in the form of documents, Biglari stated.

On the sidelines of the WHA, the health minister plans to hold meetings with his counterparts from Switzerland, Italy, Qatar, Oman, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, India, Cuba, and the WHO director for the Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (EMRO) to expand ties.

WHA78

A highly anticipated moment of the WHA78 will be the consideration of the Pandemic Agreement, a landmark proposal developed over three years of intense negotiations by the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body, composed of all WHO Member States. 

The adoption of the agreement is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to safeguard the world from a repeat of the suffering caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposal will be the second ever presented for approval under Article 19 of the WHO Constitution, which gives Member States the authority to reach agreements on global health.

WHO’s sustainable financing is a key priority of the Health Assembly. Member States will consider a scheduled 20 percent increase in assessed contributions (membership fees), towards the next Program Budget 2026–2027 (PB26-27). The PB26–27, also for approval by the Health Assembly, is the first full biennium under WHO’s Fourteenth General Programme of Work (GPW14), WHO’s strategy for global health for 2025–2028. 

The Program Budget for 2026–2027 was under consultation by Member States to prioritize activities and adjust the budget to the current financial realities, by reducing it by 22 percent, to US$ 4.267 billion, from the original proposed budget of US$ 5.3 billion. 

Reprioritization of WHO’s work, including cost-saving measures and budget adjustments, will also apply to the current year, 2025. The aim is to focus on WHO’s core work and increase efficiency. The reprioritization is a critical step to aligning WHO’s resources with the most urgent global health needs and getting health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) back on track. 

A Ministerial Roundtable on data and sustainable financing will be held on Wednesday, 21 May. This high-level roundtable will bring together ministers of health and finance, global partners, and technical leaders to identify scalable actions that strengthen country-led health data systems and sustainable financing strategies for universal health coverage and the health-related SDGs.

MT/MG