After three years of war, Sudan now accounts for the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, with 34 million people needing aid, 21 million lacking health services, and repeated attacks crippling a medical system already weakened by disease and hunger. While the situation is improving in some states, the health crisis is deepening in areas where fighting continues. Disease outbreaks and malnutrition are rising, while access to health services shrink, and funding falls short.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has convened the historic first Global Forum of Collaborating Centres—one of the world’s largest and most diverse public health networks—bringing together representatives from over 800 institutions designated as WHO Collaborating Centres (CCs) across more than 80 countries.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and France hosted the One Health Summit on World Health Day 2026, announcing new initiatives to protect human, animal, and environmental health through the One Health approach. The Summit highlighted urgent global challenges such as climate change, zoonotic diseases, and health inequities, aiming to prevent future health crises by fostering cross-sector collaboration and scientific guidance.

The World Health Organization (WHO) today calls on people everywhere to renew their commitment to working together and supporting science as the twin engines driving better health, under the World Health Day 2026 theme: “Together for health. Stand with science.” The campaign marks the anniversary of WHO’s founding on 7 April 1948, launching a year-long public health campaign.

WHO Member States have agreed to extend negotiations on the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing (PABS) annex to the WHO Pandemic Agreement, with discussions to resume in late‑April ahead of its scheduled consideration by the World Health Assembly (WHA) in May.