Countries approve a landmark resolution for a lead-free future
Member states also acknowledged that exposure to hazardous chemicals and pollution contributes to over 9 million premature deaths annually – one in six globally – with a disproportionate impact on populations in vulnerable situations, especially children, pregnant women, and communities in low- and middle-income countries.
Member States are urged to reduce exposures to hazardous chemicals, such as lead, mercury, persistent organic pollutants and endocrine-disrupting chemicals, by integrating health into environmental policies and regulations and improving waste management systems, including for growing challenges related to plastics and e-waste pollution.
Countries committed to implementing WHO’s chemicals roadmap, and enhancing national capacities and global cooperation through multilateral agreements such as the Global Framework on Chemicals, the Minamata Convention on Mercury, and the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions.
WHO will consult with countries and translate Resolution EB156(32) into a Global action plan on lead mitigation and continue providing technical assistance and guidance in strengthening health sector leadership, to protect communities from preventable health risks due to hazardous chemicals, waste and pollution.
By adopting EB156(32) and acknowledging exposure to lead and other chemicals, waste and pollution as threats to health, Member States have taken a decisive action toward addressing environmental determinants and the root causes of ill health, advancing health equity, and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
Member States agree on a new global traditional medicine strategy for 2025–2034
Members of the World Health Assembly agreed on the new WHO global traditional medicine strategy to take forward development of evidence-based practice of Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine (TCIM) into the next decade. In arriving at this Strategy, Member States debated crucial components for inclusion, such as establishing a robust evidence base for traditional medicine practices, developing mechanisms for regulation and safety, creating integrated health-care service delivery models where appropriate, and ensuring qualified practitioners.
With this Strategy, the Member States explicitly recognized not only the role of traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples but also the upholding their rights, while promoting environmental sustainability and biodiversity conservation in the context of TCIM.
Under the 2025-2034 strategy, WHO will assist Member States in strengthening the evidence base for TCIM, bolstering safety, quality and effectiveness, and, where appropriate, facilitating its integration into health systems while optimizing cross-sector collaboration.
Implementation and monitoring of the Strategy are key elements. WHO will support Member States in implementing and adapting the Strategy, providing guidance and technical assistance as needed.
This new Strategy aims to unlock the full potential of TCIM to improve global health and well-being in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals and universal health coverage (UHC).
World Prematurity Day approved as a mandated global health campaign
Endorsing the urgent need for action on preterm births, Member States agreed to announce World Prematurity Day as an official WHO health campaign. The campaign will complement efforts to improve prevention of preterm births and ensure lifesaving health care for babies born early or small.
Preterm births are defined as births that occur before 37 completed weeks of pregnancy. Related complications, which include difficulties breathing as well as infections and hypothermia, are the leading cause of death amongst children aged under 5 years. Those who survive can face significant and long-term disability and ill health.
The Resolution also calls on countries to invest in proven high-impact interventions – like special newborn care units, kangaroo mother care and family support — that improve outcomes for babies born early or small.
The campaign was approved as part of discussions on the Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health (2016-2030), and is aligned with last year’s Resolution to accelerate progress in improving maternal, newborn, and child survival.
Member States agree on actions addressing the health impacts of nuclear war
Countries agreed on a resolution entitled “Effects of Nuclear War on Public Health”. The Resolution was proposed by Burkina Faso, Ecuador, Fiji, Guatemala, Iraq, Kazakhstan, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), New Zealand, Peru, Samoa, and Vanuatu. It underscores the serious health risks posed by nuclear weapons and reaffirms WHO’s constitutional principle that health is fundamental to peace and security.
Recalling past WHO and UN resolutions and reports, the Resolution highlights the long-standing recognition of the devastating health and environmental consequences of nuclear war. Nuclear war would have catastrophic consequences for human health – both immediate and long-term. At the UN Summit of the Future in September 2024, Member States raised an alarm on the rising threat of nuclear conflict, calling it an existential risk to humanity, and reaffirmed their commitment to total nuclear disarmament.
The new Resolution requests the WHO Director-General to update earlier reports on nuclear war’s impacts on health and health systems, cooperate with relevant stakeholders and UN bodies, and report back to the World Health Assembly by 2029. It also encourages Member States to support this work, in line with their national contexts and legal frameworks, recognizing that preventing nuclear war is essential for global health, security, and the survival of humanity.
Assembly to review substandard and falsified medical products report in 2026
Countries approved a decision to provide additional time to finalize the report of the fourteenth meeting of the Member State mechanism (MsM) regarding global health threats posed by substandard and falsified (SF) medical products. The final report will now be submitted to the Seventy-ninth World Health Assembly in 2026, via the 158th session of the Executive Board.
This decision follows a request by the Steering Committee of the MsM for more time to consider specific recommendations from the 2023 independent evaluation, particularly those concerning potential revisions to the mechanism’s format. WHO is actively supporting this process by providing both legal and operational guidance.
With an estimated 1 in 10 medicines in low- and middle-income countries being substandard or falsified, and economic losses ranging from US$ 75 to 200 billion annually, the stakes are high. SF incidents nearly tripled between 2019 and 2023, exacerbated by online distribution, weak regulatory oversight and surveillance, and humanitarian crises.
Established through Resolution WHA65.19 in 2012, the MsM has served as a cornerstone of WHO’s global strategy, enabling countries to collaborate in preventing, detecting, and responding to SF medical products. The 2023 evaluation reaffirmed the mechanism’s relevance and underscored its unique role in global coordination. However, it also called for improvements, including regional engagement, broader stakeholder collaboration, and enhanced operational agility.
WHO reiterated its full commitment to reinforcing the mechanism as a cornerstone of global health security, calling on continued engagement from governments, pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors, donors and civil society.
Flags of non-Member Observer States
Delegates decided that “the flags of non-Member Observer States at the United Nations shall be raised at the World Health Organization… and does not constitute Member State status in the World Health Organization.” The discussion focused specifically on having the Palestinian flag raised at WHO, as a non-Member Observer State, and cited UN resolution 20.15 as a basis for the flag to be raised there.
Considering the withdrawal of a Member State
There was a request for the Executive Board, at its meeting in January 2026, to consider the withdrawal of Argentina and to submit a report thereon to the Seventy-ninth World Health Assembly.
