The 79th World Health Assembly (WHA79) is held from May 18 – 23, 2026.

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.

As a non-state actor (NSA) in official relations with WHO, SIOP will attend WHA79 to participate in official proceedings, connect with the global cancer community, and co-host and participate in side-events.

2026 remains a pivotal year in the global health agenda, especially for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and mental health. Under the theme “Reshaping Global Health: A Shared Responsibility,” the 79th World Health Assembly (WHA79) focuses on five core priorities to strengthen global health infrastructure. Key goals include finalizing the international pandemic agreement for future health security, advancing universal health coverage through sustainable financing, and tackling the health impacts of climate change ahead of COP31. Additionally, the assembly aims to accelerate disease control strategies (such as eliminating malaria and expanding mental health programs) and evaluate the integration of digital health and AI to improve healthcare equity and accessibility worldwide.

Those interested in tracking WHA79 proceedings are invited to access the latest information via the WHA79 landing page, which includes links to the livestream and important WHA documents, such as agenda and daily schedules.

As usual, the WHA79 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:

• 12.1 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 continue to advocate  childhood cancer and other rare and life-threatening childhood NCDs in the UN 4th High Level Meeting Declaration on NCDs implementation which now includes childhood cancer

View full statement here

• 12.4 Universal health coverage (SIOP will be joining statement from partner NSA)
• 14.1 Strengthening the global architecture for health emergency prevention, preparedness, response and resilience (SIOP will be joining statement from partner NSA)

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. Also, our SIOP Asia President, Prof Gevorg Tamamyan will be part of our delegation. In case you are in Geneva this 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 WHA79 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 18, 2026

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital & NCD Alliance: “Childhood Cancer in the Global NCD Agenda: A Call to Action for Lifelong Integration and Access to Care” 18 May 2026, 1:30–3:00 PM, Red Cross Museum / ICRC Building,

WHO : “High-Level Roundtable on Market Shaping for Childhood Cancer Medicines” 18 May 2026, 4:00–5:30 PM, Red Cross Museum / ICRC Building

WHO: “Launch of the GICC Deep Dive Global Status Report” 18 May 2026, 6:00–7:30 PM, Red Cross Museum / ICRC Building

May 19, 2026

IIPAN: “Harnessing AI and Technology to Advance Nutritional Care for Children with Non-Communicable Diseases” May 19 at 5:00–7:00 PM, Hotel President Wilson
SIOP’s Maja Beck invited to take part – no speaking role – potential to explore further engagement/speaking?
CCI also invited

May 20, 2026

Rare Diseases International: “Rare Diseases: A Catalyst for Global Health Transformation“, May 20,  5:00–7:00 PM, Geneva Graduate Institute

May 21, 2026

UICC-AMGEN: “AI serving better patient outcomes”, 21 May 2026, from 10 am to 12:00, UICC Office