The members of the WHA generally meet every year in May in Geneva, Switzerland, at the Palace of Nations, the location of WHO Headquarters. The main tasks of the WHA are to decide major policy questions, as well as to approve the WHO work programme and budget and elect its Director-General (every fifth year) and annually to elect ten members to renew part of its executive board. Its main functions are to determine the policies of the Organization, supervise financial policies, and review and approve the proposed programme budget. The Seventy-ninth World Health Assembly (WHA79) takes place in Geneva, Switzerland from 18 to 23 May 2026, bringing together delegations from WHO Member States to set global health policy and advance the Organization’s strategic priorities. It will build upon the momentum of the last year’s 78th World Health Assembly, which adopted the Global Action Plan on Climate Change and Health, an updated road map for an enhanced global response to the adverse health effects of air pollution, and the elevation of climate change as the first strategic objective of WHO’s Fourteenth General Programme of Work (GPW14, 2025–2028). Looking forward to COP31, co-hosted by Türkiye and Australia, this Assembly offers an opportunity for the global climate and health community to convene and sustain the political momentum secured at WHA78.
The World Health Assembly (WHA) is the forum through which the World Health Organization (WHO) is governed by its 193 member states, it is the world’s highest health policy setting body and is composed of health ministers from member states.
The members of the WHA generally meet every year in May in Geneva, Switzerland, at the Palace of Nations, the location of WHO Headquarters. The main tasks of the WHA are to decide major policy questions, as well as to approve the WHO work programme and budget and elect its Director-General (every fifth year) and annually to elect ten members to renew part of its executive board. Its main functions are to determine the policies of the Organization, supervise financial policies, and review and approve the proposed programme budget. The Seventy-ninth World Health Assembly (WHA79) takes place in Geneva, Switzerland from 18 to 23 May 2026, bringing together delegations from WHO Member States to set global health policy and advance the Organization’s strategic priorities. It will build upon the momentum of the last year’s 78th World Health Assembly, which adopted the Global Action Plan on Climate Change and Health, an updated road map for an enhanced global response to the adverse health effects of air pollution, and the elevation of climate change as the first strategic objective of WHO’s Fourteenth General Programme of Work (GPW14, 2025–2028). Looking forward to COP31, co-hosted by Türkiye and Australia, this Assembly offers an opportunity for the global climate and health community to convene and sustain the political momentum secured at WHA78.
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79th World Health Assembly
Klimaatverandering bedreigt ook de volksgezondheid, waarschuwen experts
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