The 78th World Health Assembly (WHA78) commences next week from May 19 – 27, 2025.
The World Health Assembly is the main decision-making body of WHO and is comprised of 194 Member States. Every year, generally in May, delegates from all Member States come together to agree on the Organization’s priorities and policies

At the Health Assembly, country delegates make decisions on health goals and strategies that will guide their own public health work and the work of the WHO Secretariat to move the world towards better health and well-being for all. The Health Assembly also serves as a forum for reporting back on the implementation of the areas of work set, in order to determine what has been achieved and decide on strategies for addressing the gaps. The theme of this year’s Assembly is “One World for Health”

As a non-state actor (NSA) in official relations with WHO, SIOP will attend WHA78 to participate in official proceedings, connect with the global cancer community, and co-host and participate in side-events.

2025 is pivotal year in the global health agenda, especially for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and mental health. At WHA78, we will be looking ahead to the Fourth High-level Meeting of the United Nations General Assembly (HLM4) in 2025 when the Heads of States and Government will come together to set a vision to prevent and control NCDs towards 2030 and 2050 through a political declaration to be decided in the UN General Assembly. It is a crucial opportunity for advocates to come together and jointly push for progress in this space.

Those interested in tracking WHA78 proceedings are invited to access the latest information via the WHA78 landing page, which includes links to the livestream and important WHA documents, such as agenda and daily schedules.

As usual, the WHA78 agenda is very comprehensive and attempted to match them with the priorities outlined in our strategic plan. Hence, SIOP will closely track the proceedings on the following topics:

• 13.1 Follow-up to the political declaration of the third high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) (Constituency statement led by SIOP to call for the inclusion of childhood cancer and other rare and life-threatening childhood NCDs in the UN 4th High Level Meeting Declaration on NCDs)
• 13.3 Universal health coverage (SIOP is joining the statement on Imaging Capacity Building to support equal access to multi-disciplinary  care for childhood cancers in line with the vision of the WHO Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer and its CureAll framework)
• 14. Health in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (we will support the NCD Alliance statement towards 4HLM and beyond and the aim to include childhood cancer indicators in relation to the NCD agenda, child mortality Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) target, and NCD Best Buys which include childhood cancer)
• 16.1 Strengthening the global architecture for health emergency prevention, preparedness, response and resilience (SIOP will support the constituency statement led by International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care (IAHPC) with the focus on making sure palliative care is part of universal health coverage (UHC) and emergency preparedness strategies, which is pertinent in SIOP’s role and partnerships in Palliative care advocacy)

Statements will be posted to official WHO NSA statement platform as well as on the SIOP website once delivered. We would like to thank our Advocacy committee, WHO NSA engagement committee and all partners who contributed their expertise to these statements.

We would like to thank our WHO NSA Engagement Committee Chair, Prof Maja Beck-Popovic to make the time in her busy schedule to attend official proceedings and be our voice. In case you are in Geneva next week, don’t forget there are many WHA side events, meetings, and activities that take place outside of the Palais des Nations which  do not require an official delegate pass.

For a comprehensive list of side events, please check the official WHA78 side events calendar for a list of in-person, virtual, and hybrid events.

Our SIOP delegate, Prof Beck-Popovic, will attend the following key events alongside some others:

May 20, 2025
“Strengthening the Global Ecosystem for Paediatric Medicines: Leadership, Collaboration & Impact”,GAP-f high level side event
Find more information here

May 21, 2025
“Strengthening Medical Imaging Capacity: The Time is Now”
WNFMB & ISR
06:30 pm – 08:30 pm
Four Seasons Hotel Des Bergues, Geneva, Switzerland
Find out more here

May 21, 2025
WHO Civil Society Commission Members Event
Morning hours
WHO Headquarters in Geneva (members only), Switzerland

May 21, 2025
“Milestones & Momentum in Rare Diseases: 10 Years of Progress, 10 Years of Possibility”
06:00 pm – 09:00 pm
This event is being held under the patronage of Spain and Egypt, and is co-hosted by RDI along with 6 partner organizations
Auditorium de la Pastorale
106 Route de Ferney 1202 Genève Switzerland
Register to attend the in-person event in Geneva
Register to attend online

May 21, 2025
“Equity and integration: transforming lives through leadership & action on NCDs”
06:00 pm – 07:20 pm
NCD Alliance
Palais des Nations -Room XXII, Geneva, Switzerland

May 23, 2025
“Accelerating Progress on Universal Access to Palliative Care: Learning from Country Experiences”
06:00 pm – 08:00 pm
NATIONS BUSINESS CENTRE 1 Rue du Pré-de-la-Bichette, Geneva, Switzerland
WHPCA
Find out more here

May 23, 2025
“Pediatric Non-Communicable Diseases: Building Systems-Based Approaches in Nutrition Agenda”
5:00 pm – 7:00 pm CEST
Hotel President Wilson, Quai Wilson 47, 1211, Geneva, Switzerland
Hosted By: IIPAN, SIOP, WHO Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer CureAll, IARC