IAPO at 79th World Health Assembly

The 79th World Health Assembly took place in Geneva from 18-23 May 2026, and during this week IAPO worked to amplify the voice of patients across multiple global health discussions. We did this by holding engaging side-events, as well as delivering and joining several statements on key agenda items. 

IAPO highlights 

IAPO led a Constituency Statement on Agenda item 12.5: Primary Health Care, with support from 21 NSAs.

CEO Dani Mothci delivered the statement, which highlighted three priorities as the 2027 High-Level Meeting on UHC approaches - meaningful engagement, person-centred integration and accountability with people-centred indicators. You can read our full statement here or hear from Dani here. 

In addition, IAPO joined the following Constituency Statements: 

• Agenda item 12.1: Follow-up to the political declaration of the high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases - statement led by Save the Children
• Agenda item 12.6: Agenda for Sustainable Development - statements led by Women in Global Health and WHF
• Agenda item 15.5: Draft strategy on the economics of health for all - statement led by ICN, International Federation on Ageing (IFA), and NCDA
• Agenda item 20.1: Reform of the global health architecture and the UN80 Initiative - statements led by Save the Children, NCDA, and Women in Global Health 

Side events

On the side lines of the Assembly, IAPO co-hosted three side events, focusing on important topics including social participation, global health governance, and people-centred primary health care. 

Tuesday 19 May

The first, 'The Social Participation Village: Where Every Voice Shapes Health Governance', co-hosted alongside CSEM for UHC2030 - The Civil Society Engagement Mechanism for Universal Health Coverage, Global Health Council, Save the Children UK, The George Institute for Global Health, and SPHERE, the Social Participation for Health Engagement, Research, and Empowerment, brought together civil society, patient organisations, and global health stakeholders to share progress on implementing the WHA resolution on social participation and exchange insights from WHO & civil society reporting.

The session brought together civil society, patient organisations, and other stakeholders working to advance social participation to share and collect feedback on progress in implementing the WHA resolution, drawing on both WHO reporting and civil society reporting. We reflected on advocacy opportunities and collaboration to accelerate the implementation of the resolution on social participation and how civil society and patient organisations can support ongoing efforts at the country, regional and global levels.

In addition, we co-created a visual data resource through our Social Participation Stakeholder Map, capturing who is active on social participation - showcasing where, at what level, and in what capacity. 

Wednesday 20 May

Our second side-event was titled 'Civil Society Shaping the WHO Civil Society Engagement Strategy: Opportunities for Meaningful Participation in Global Health Governance', organised with the International Cerebral Palsy Society on behalf of the World Health Organization Civil Society Commission.

This session brought together civil society, WHO representatives and partners, to share updates on the strategy process, gather civil society perspectives and priorities, Explore principles for more meaningful engagement and help inform a more inclusive approach to global health governance and advance progress toward universal health coverage. 

Wednesday 20 May

Our final side event, 'The Value Collection: Stories Shaped by Flexible, People-centred Primary Health Care' took the form of an immersive exhibition held in collaboration with UNAIDS, Harvard Medical School Program in Global Primary Health Care and Roche.

The exhibition brought together personal stories and objects illustrating what becomes possible when care is designed around people’s needs and lived realities. It gave participants the opportunity to share their experience of people-centred primary health care, where it was transformed into a unique piece of digital artwork in an AI-powered gallery.

Other events

CEO Dani Mothci was also invited to speak at the side-event, 'In conversation: where lived experience meets policy' hosted by Boehringer Ingelheim and NCD Alliance. This session took the form of a high-level policy dialogue exploring one of the most pressing questions in global health: 'how do we move from commitment to action on meaningful patient engagement?'

Dani was also invited to speak at the World Medical Alliance event 'Financing the Future: Investing in Health Workforce for Economic Resilience and UHC'. This session aimed to highlight the economic and societal returns of investing in health systems and the health workforce, and explore policy pathways to align health financing with UHC and sustainable development.