Newsletter Edition #352 [The Files In-Depth]
Readers,
The World Health Assembly deliberations last week were accompanied by rising concerns on the unfolding Ebola emergency.
The emergency occurs less than a year since the amended International Health Regulations (IHR) came into force in September 2025. This also comes in at a time, when countries are negotiating the Pathogen Access Benefit Sharing System - discussing precisely the kind of operational and logistical issues that have emerged in the current Ebola emergency. For health, trade and biosecurity negotiators, the Ebola emergency is a live case to situate their understanding on preparedness and response.
In today's edition, my colleagues have captured and interpreted the statements made by countries on the implementation of the IHR at the Assembly. Nishant argues that, in their reflections, countries seem to suggest that equity is no longer peripheral rhetoric in governance of health emergencies, but a condition for legitimacy.
Also find below, a short update on Ebola from WHO's press briefing last Friday, May 22, 2026.
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More important updates from us on the recently concluded WHA79 in the coming days.
Priti
Priti Patnaik, Founder & Publisher, Geneva Health Files
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Presenting our weekly in-depth analysis on global health that captures the big picture and the nuances like no one else does. This is an exclusive edition for our subscribers.
I. WHA79 UPDATE
The Politics of Preparedness: Reading the Global Health Security Consensus
Member states on the International Health Regulations at WHA79
By Nishant Sirohi
Shubhangi Thakur contributed to this story
There appears to be a significant shift in the way member states understand the role of the International Health Regulations (IHR) within the evolving global health architecture. Once seen primarily as a technical framework for disease notification and outbreak reporting, the IHR is now increasingly understood as the operational backbone of global health security and pandemic preparedness.
In this story, we analyse the interventions made during the World Health Assembly’s agenda item 13.2 on the implementation of the International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005), as amended in 2024.
Several member states now framing IHR implementation as part of broader agendas of national resilience, health systems strengthening, development planning, and multi-sectoral emergency preparedness.
