Scaling Up the Health Response to Climate Change: Highlights from the World Health Organization Executive Board’s 156th Meeting on the Global Action Plan on Climate Change and Health
By Bianca Carvalho
The Executive Board of the World Health Organization (WHO), during its 156th meeting held from 3-11 February 2025, discussed a draft Global Action Plan on Climate Change and Health (2025 – 2028) (EB156/40). This policy brief explains the content of the draft Global Action Plan and summarises the feedback provided by Member States during the Executive Board meeting.
Member States at the 156th WHO Executive Board meeting made recommendations for the Global Action Plan, including to ensure that equity remains central, to foster collaboration across sectors, and to enhance support mechanisms—both technical and financial—for developing countries addressing the intersection of climate change and health challenges. Member States also called for more consultations before the draft Global Action Plan is considered for adoption at the 78th World Health Assembly in May 2025.
Statement of the Executive Director of the South Centre, Dr. Carlos Correa, at the NAM Health Ministers’ Meeting on the sidelines of the 78th World Health Assembly (May 19-27, 2025)
The decisions to be made at the 78th World Health Assembly will have direct implications not only for national health systems, but also for the very architecture of international cooperation in health. Read the statement by the Executive Director of the South Centre, Dr. Carlos Correa, at the NAM Health Ministers’ Meeting on the sidelines of the 78th WHA.
Gender Intersectionality in Antimicrobial Resistance
Date & Time: 14 May 2025, 4PM CET Geneva time / 10AM EST / 2PM GMT
Key Discussion Points:
The intersectionality of gender with other social determinants (e.g. socioeconomic status, education, occupation) in shaping AMR vulnerabilities and outcomes.
How gender influences antibiotic use, access to healthcare, and infection prevention and control practices?
Strategies for integrating gender-sensitive approaches into AMR policies, programs, and research
Leaving the WHO? The US Just Shot Itself in the Foot
By Germán Velásquez
At the start of his second term, United States president Donald Trump has again announced that the US will formally leave the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2025. Leaving the WHO is a financial blow to the Organization, as many have pointed out, but it is much more than that. Trump’s decision to abandon WHO is counterproductive and puts at risk the capacity of the organization to perform its role as the global health agency. The WHO has been central to responding to global health emergencies for more than seven decades. Its work in the fight against diseases such as smallpox, polio, Ebola and HIV/AIDS, or the binding international convention against tobacco use, has saved millions of lives.
The US’ withdrawal from WHO will have a serious impact on various aspects of global health, and the US will itself be directly affected. WHO members should unite to strengthen the WHO and counteract this decision by the current US Administration.
Advancing Women and Girls’ Health in a Time of Converging Crises
Date: 24 April 2025
Time: 14:30 to 16:30 PM
Venue: Maison de la Paix, Petal 2, Room S12, Eugène-Rigot 2, Geneva, Switzerland
The global community faces unprecedented challenges in realising the right to health for all. While progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) acknowledges the importance of gender equality and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), this progress is threatened by persistent inequalities, the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, escalating climate change impacts, ongoing conflicts, and socio-economic disparities. These converging crises disproportionately affect vulnerable populations, exacerbating marginalisation and hindering progress towards achieving universal health coverage, with particularly severe consequences for women and girls.
This briefing aims to provide a comprehensive overview of these challenges and propose concrete strategies to advance SRHR within international cooperation and the SDGs. The South Centre will host this briefing to foster policy dialogue on how States can fulfil their obligations to advance the right to health for all, with a central focus on SRHR.
South Centre Statement to the Resumed Thirteenth Meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body to Draft and Negotiate a WHO Convention, Agreement or Other International Instrument of Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response
7 April 2025
Negotiations resume for a WHO pandemic agreement, aiming to finalise the text in 5 days. Will Member States show the needed leadership and will to deliver an impactful outcome with equity at the core?
Strengthening Antimicrobial Stewardship Policy: Insights from COVID-19 and Future Pandemic Preparedness
South Centre Webinar
Date: 14 April 2025 Time: 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM CEST | 6:00 AM – 7:00 AM EDT | 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM IST Location: Virtual (Zoom)
In this one-hour webinar, we will explore how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) programmes and what lessons can strengthen future pandemic preparedness, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
Advancing National Action Plans on Antimicrobial Resistance amidst Health Financing Challenges
By Afreenish Amir
The South Centre held a webinar on advancing national action plans (NAPs) on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) amidst health financial challenges, on 20 March 2025. The webinar brought together various national focal point leads for NAPs on AMR and international experts.
South Centre Capacity Building Workshop on Monitoring and Evaluation Frameworks in National Action Plans on Antimicrobial Resistance
Date: 28 March 2025
Time: 4pm Geneva Time / 11am ET / 3pm GMT
This workshop will explore best practices for implementing National Action Plans on Antimicrobial Resistance and their corresponding Monitoring and Evaluation frameworks. Country-specific updates on NAP AMR progress will be shared, followed by a panel discussion with esteemed experts who will discuss strategies for guiding M&E targets and promoting accountability in NAP implementation.
Webinar: Advancing National Action Plans on AMR amidst Health Financing Challenges
20 March 2025; 12pm Geneva time/7am ET/ 11am GMT/ 8am Brazil time/1pm South Africa time/11am Ghana time
National Action Plans (NAPS) on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) are developed by countries based on their own strategic priorities. Countries are at various stages of implementation of plans. However, advancing NAPs on AMR faces many challenges, particularly due to the challenges of global health funding and domestic health financing. This webinar will feature experts that will discuss selected country experiences on NAP AMR implementation and reflect on how to address the health financing challenges that hinder NAP implementation and AMR mitigation efforts. What are the financing and resource allocation approaches that can support NAP implementation in the current context?
Leveraging the Antimicrobial Resistance Declarations of 2024 to Reduce the Burden of Drug-Resistant Infections
By Afreenish Amir & Viviana Munoz Tellez
In 2024, two significant events highlighted the global concern about antimicrobial resistance (AMR). AMR is a pressing global health issue, imperiling public health, economic stability, and societal well-being. The 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in its special session on AMR and the 4th Ministerial Meeting on AMR have emphasized the need for collective action and international cooperation to mitigate the impact of AMR. The UNGA Declaration has set some targets including reducing global deaths associated with bacterial AMR by 10% by 2030 and enhancing the antimicrobial usage from the World Health Organization (WHO) AWaRe (Access, Watch, Reserve) Access category to 70% by 2030. Accomplishing these targets requires enhancing the inter-ministerial and inter-sectoral collaboration within countries, and the development of strategies reflected in national action plans (NAPs) tailored to each country’s unique dynamics. There are several important commitments made that now need to be implemented, including increased support to countries to develop funded NAPs, the establishment of an Independent Panel on Evidence for Action against AMR, capacity building for local manufacturing of vaccines, therapeutics, diagnostics and essential supplies, developing a new Global Action Plan on AMR by 2026 with a focus on a people centered approach, and advancing cross-sectoral behavioral change interventions. However, these fell short of ambition, particularly in key areas such as financing, reduction of misuse and overuse of antimicrobials in human and animal health and the environment as a vector for AMR. This Policy Brief reviews the new commitments on AMR made in 2024 under the light of current challenges in developing countries and advances recommendations to accelerate progress on AMR.
