Health and Human Rights News
News to 16 May 2026
79th World Health Assembly this week
This week (18–23 May 2026) global leaders meet in Geneva to debate pandemic preparedness, digital health, and expanding Universal Health Coverage at the 79th World Health Assembly. The Global Plan for Climate Change and Health is to be launched along with a focus on further action plans to secure political commitments leading up to the COP31 summit.
See also: Trump’s War on Clean Air, Richard Pearshouse, 9 April 2026
Progress towards UHC has slowed sharply
The World Health Organization Statistics 2026 Report reveals that global health efforts are falling short, and progress toward universal health coverage (UHC) has slowed sharply. WHO reports that 25% of the global population faced financial hardship from health costs, and 1.6 billion people were living in or pushed into poverty due to out-of-pocket health spending in 2022.
‘World must do better’ to protect health workers in conflicts
With attacks on healthcare in conflict on the rise worldwide, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk called on the international community to recommit to international human rights and humanitarian law. Speaking on the 10th anniversary of the adoption of Security Council Resolution 2286 to improve investigations and accountability for attacks against medical facilities and personnel, he called for international cooperation to enhance accountability and condemnation.
Humanitarian crisis worsens in Lebanon
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate in Lebanon with more than 100 strikes in 24 hours last weekend, and 87 people killed including two paramedics who were responding to earlier incidents when they were killed. Since the start of the escalation on March 2nd, the World Health Organization has recorded 158 attacks on healthcare, resulting in 108 deaths and 249 injuries.
See also: VIEWPOINT Prescribing Death: Israel’s Regional War on Health Mira Younes, Samirah Jarrar, Sahar Saeidnia, Malak Makki, and Nizar Hariri, 16 April 2026
Israel urged to release Gaza’s doctors
Israel has arrested and detained hundreds of Gaza’s essential medical workers in direct violation of international law’s special protections for medical personnel, Physicians for Human Rights – Israel announced this week. It said the detention of Gaza’s doctors – who could provide urgently needed medical care – actively obstructs the rehabilitation of the healthcare system and it urged both national and international action to help these physicians return home.
Ukraine population under severe mental stress
During a UN Geneva Press Briefing, the World Health Organization (WHO) detailed the severe, generational toll of conflict on mental health. They estimated that 71% of the Ukrainian population experiences severe anxiety and stress, prompting the integration of rights-based mental health support into all healthcare sectors.
WHO releases new health inequality country profiles
The World Health Organization has released interactive health inequality country profiles to disaggregate health data and track progress towards health equity. Produced by Health Inequality Monitoring at WHO’s Department of Data, Digital Health, Analytics and AI, the country profiles provide a single access point for countries to take stock of inequalities in priority aspects of health, or to make it obvious where inequality data are not publicly available.
Malaria vaccine rollout averted one in eight deaths
The first African countries to offer the RTS,S malaria vaccine have seen a significant reduction in child deaths since the immunization’s introduction in 2019, according to research published in the Lancet. “This is very solid evidence of the potential for malaria vaccines to change the trajectory of child mortality in Africa, and why it is urgent to overcome funding challenges to accelerate rollout,” said Dr Kate O’Brien, WHO Director of the Department of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals.
UN expert calls for the Maldives to expand UHC
“The Maldives’ achievements in establishing a universal healthcare system, relying on modern science and medicine should be safeguarded,” said Dr. Tlaleng Mofokeng, Special Rapporteur on the right to health, at the end of her visit to the country last week. Mofokeng applauded the nation’s universal health care model, but also stressed that improved access to pharmaceuticals, expanded sexual and reproductive health services and mental health care are essential to deliver health rights for all.
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