WHO aims to finalise a pandemic pact by May 2025, despite uncertainty under Trump’s leadership, as nations negotiate global collaboration amid ongoing health crises.
The World Health Organization (WHO) chief expressed confidence on Tuesday that a pandemic agreement could be finalised by May 2025, despite uncertainty over support from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s administration.
Negotiations among the WHO’s 194 member states have been ongoing for two years to enhance global collaboration on pandemics after shortcomings during COVID-19. A prior attempt to finalise the agreement this year failed, and with right-wing critics claiming it threatens sovereignty, a deal appears less certain under Trump.
“They (countries) are committed to finalising the agreement in time for the World Health Assembly next May. I remain confident they will,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at a Geneva press briefing.
Ghebreyesus emphasised a long-standing partnership with the U.S., stating, "U.S. leaders understand that the United States cannot be safe unless the rest of the world is safe."
Separately, Tedros reported that malaria was detected in 10 early samples from a mystery illness in the Democratic Republic of Congo but cautioned this might not exclude other diseases.
He also highlighted increased strain on Syria's fragile health system due to the displacement of 1 million people in the wake of a rebel offensive, noting that returning refugees could further exacerbate the crisis. The WHO is providing trauma supplies to hospitals and supporting other facilities in the region.
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A drone attack on a hospital in East Darfur, Sudan, has killed at least 64 people and injured 89 more, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported on Saturday.
Measles cases across Europe and Central Asia fell sharply in 2025 compared to the previous year but health officials have warned that the risk of fresh outbreaks remains unless vaccination gaps are urgently addressed.
The United States officially left the World Health Organization on 22 January, triggering a financial and operational crisis at the United Nations health agency. The move follows a year of warnings from global health experts that a U.S. exit could undermine public health at home and abroad.
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Thursday that he still hopes the U.S. administration will reconsider its decision to withdraw from the organisation next month, warning that its exit would be a loss for the world.
One U.S. crew member has been rescued after two American warplanes were downed over Iran and the Gulf, as the search continues for a missing pilot, while President Donald Trump has given Tehran 48 hours to agree to a deal to end the war.
The U.N. Security Council is expected to vote next week on a Bahraini resolution to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and protect commercial shipping, diplomats said on Friday, amid opposition from China to any authorisation of force.
One crew member from a U.S. warplane shot down over Iran has been rescued, U.S. officials said, as a search continues for a second crew member.
Iran has strongly condemned U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to bomb the country “back to the Stone Age”, calling his remarks an example of “war crimes and genocide.”
France and South Korea have agreed to strengthen defence ties and energy security cooperation following a two-day visit by French President Emmanuel Macron to Seoul.
A Chinese biotechnology company is stepping up efforts to combine artificial intelligence (AI) with advanced genetic testing in a bid to improve the success rates of in vitro fertilization (IVF), while also tapping into growing demand for fertility services.
Austria’s government on Friday approved plans to introduce a nationwide ban on social media use for children under the age of 14, alongside reforms to upper secondary school curricula aimed at boosting media literacy and Artificial Intelligence (AI) education from the 2027/28 academic year.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said that as of Wednesday evening, it has identified six new cases of meningococcal disease in Kent, bringing the total of confirmed or suspected cases to at least 27.
The Scottish Parliament has voted against legalising assisted dying, ending a years-long campaign to make Scotland the first part of the UK to allow the practice.
The war in the Middle East is beginning to disrupt the flow of critical medicines to Gulf countries, raising concerns about the supply of cancer treatments and other temperature-sensitive drugs, according to pharmaceutical industry executives.
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