From Crisis to Resilience: Innovating for Health

The African continent carries roughly a quarter of the world’s disease burden yet holds little control over how its health future is funded, manufactured, and secured, argues WHS International President Prof Lukoye Atwoli. Drawing on the WHS Regional Meeting 2026 in Nairobi, he sets out five pillars for transforming the global health architecture and argues that Africa is prepared not just to participate in that conversation, but to lead it.

While the 79th World Health Assembly delivered important progress on global health reform, it also exposed growing political divisions within multilateral health governance. Dr Sania Nishtar, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, explores the tension between greater health sovereignty, global cooperation, and the rising influence of geopolitics on the future of global health.

Global health reform is often discussed in technical terms, but WHS Council Co-Chair Ilona Kickbusch argues that the real issue is power. She explains why reform efforts will fall short unless they confront the geopolitical and economic interests that shape priorities, control financing, and define evidence.

The US withdrawal from the WHO, collapsing aid budgets, and a shift toward bilateral agreements are reshaping the foundations of international health cooperation – with devastating consequences for the world's most vulnerable. Lawrence O. Gostin and Sam Halabi assess the fallout and outline what the global community must do next.