Summary of discussions of 21 May at the Seventy-ninth World Health Assembly.

The story

The Assembly, today, endorsed a decision requesting the Director-General to develop a post-2030 tuberculosis (TB) strategy, in consultation with Member States and relevant stakeholders, to be submitted to the Eighty-first World Health Assembly in 2028.

The new strategy will help guide the future global TB response, considering emerging scientific advances and current epidemiological trends. The strategy will reinforce strong alignment with primary health care, advancing universal health coverage, and global health security agendas, in preparation for the 2028 United Nations High-Level Meeting on TB.

Details

The Assembly also discussed a report on the implementation of the current End TB Strategy highlighting both progress and challenges. Between 2000 and 2024, expanded treatment of people with TB saved an estimated 83 million lives, while 2024 marked the first post-pandemic decline in TB incidence and the highest-ever recorded access levels to essential TB services.

Today, delegates approved a resolution recognizing steatotic liver disease (SLD) as an important and growing contributor to the global burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). SLD, formerly referred to as fatty liver disease, affects an estimated 1.7 billion people worldwide, and is one of the fastest-growing causes of chronic liver disease globally.

The condition is closely linked to obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and other metabolic conditions, while alcohol-associated liver disease remains an important contributor to the overall burden. Without effective prevention and care, SLD can progress to liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, and liver cancer, placing increasing pressure on health systems worldwide.

The resolution calls on Member States to integrate SLD into national NCD strategies, strengthen primary health care approaches, improve surveillance and awareness, and promote multisectoral action addressing shared NCD risk factors, including unhealthy diets, physical inactivity and the harmful use of alcohol. It also calls for strengthening access to prevention, screening, diagnosis and management services, particularly for populations at higher risk, including children and adolescents.

The resolution further requests WHO to integrate SLD into ongoing NCD prevention and control efforts, provide technical support to countries upon request, strengthen collaboration with relevant partners, and report biennially on progress as part of the broader global NCD agenda.

Political declaration of the fourth high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases and the promotion of mental health and well-being

How other sources reported it

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Why it matters

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