Seventy-ninth World Health Assembly – Daily update: 21 May 2026

Skip to main content

© WHO / Antoine Tardy

Committee B at the 79th World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, on 20 May 2026.

©

Credits

Seventy-ninth World Health Assembly – Daily update: 21 May 2026

21 May 2026

Note for Media

Geneva

Reading time:

Countries support development of a post-2030 strategy to end tuberculosisThe Assembly, today, endorsed a decision requesting the Director-General to develop a post-2030 tuberculosis (TB) strategy, in consultation with Member States and relevant stakeholders, to be submitted to the Eighty-first World Health Assembly in 2028.

The new strategy will help guide the future global TB response, considering emerging scientific advances and current epidemiological trends. The strategy will reinforce strong alignment with primary health care, advancing universal health coverage, and global health security agendas, in preparation for the 2028 United Nations High-Level Meeting on TB.

The Assembly also discussed a report on the implementation of the current End TB Strategy highlighting both progress and challenges. Between 2000 and 2024, expanded treatment of people with TB saved an estimated 83 million lives, while 2024 marked the first post-pandemic decline in TB incidence and the highest-ever recorded access levels to essential TB services.

Despite these gains, TB remains a leading infectious killer, and global targets under the End TB Strategy and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development remain off track. This is due to chronic underfunding, pandemic-related disruptions, inequality, conflict, and climate-related displacement, and vulnerability.

Assembly recognizes steatotic liver disease as a major and growing NCD challenge Today, delegates approved a resolution recognizing steatotic liver disease (SLD) as an important and growing contributor to the global burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). SLD, formerly referred to as fatty liver disease, affects an estimated 1.7 billion people worldwide, and is one of the fastest-growing causes of chronic liver disease globally.

The condition is closely linked to obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and other metabolic conditions, while alcohol-associated liver disease remains an important contributor to the overall burden. Without effective prevention and care, SLD can progress to liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, and liver cancer, placing increasing pressure on health systems worldwide.

The resolution calls on Member States to integrate SLD into national NCD strategies, strengthen primary health care approaches, improve surveillance and awareness, and promote multisectoral action addressing shared NCD risk factors, including unhealthy diets, physical inactivity and the harmful use of alcohol. It also calls for strengthening access to prevention, screening, diagnosis and management services, particularly for populations at higher risk, including children and adolescents.

The resolution further requests WHO to integrate SLD into ongoing NCD prevention and control efforts, provide technical support to countries upon request, strengthen collaboration with relevant partners, and report biennially on progress as part of the broader global NCD agenda.

Related linkPolitical declaration of the fourth high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases and the promotion of mental health and well-being

Countries vow support for people living with haemophilia and other bleeding disorders Member States at the World Health Assembly today endorsed a resolution recommitting action on haemophilia and other bleeding disorders, addressing major gaps in diagnosis, treatment and care globally. It is estimated that nearly 70% of people living with haemophilia remain undiagnosed.

Haemophilia and other bleeding disorders impair the body’s ability to clot blood properly, causing prolonged bleeding after injury or surgery and, in severe cases, spontaneous bleeding episodes. Without timely diagnosis and appropriate prophylaxis, these conditions can lead to serious health complications, disability and reduced quality of life.

This resolution represents a concrete step toward closing a long-standing equity gap for a community that has often been overlooked in global he