The MV Hondius cruise ship, affected by several hantavirus cases, anchored inside the Port of Granadilla de Abona in Tenerife, Spain, 11 May 2026. (Keystone/EPA/Ramón de la Rocha)

Hantavirus: what happens when countries walk away from WHO. As the World Health Assembly this week marks the WHO exits of the United States and Argentina, a deadly outbreak at sea raises questions about whether international health cooperation can hold despite political fractures.

Staff from United Nations agencies in Geneva gather to protest against the drastic budget cuts and staff reductions affecting thousands of UN employees worldwide, at Place des Nations in front of the UN in Geneva, 1 May 2025. (Keystone/Salvatore Di Nolfi)

How serious is the UN’s warning of imminent bankruptcy? Amid warnings that UN funding may run out by mid-summer, a member state finance committee has the option to change an outdated rule that has made the organisation’s budget crisis a lot worse.

❤️‍🩹HEALTH AND POLITICS. The annual World Health Assembly (WHA) kicks off today after a tough year marked by member exits, a financial crisis and unfinished work on the pandemic treaty.

Members count. Following the US’s and Argentina’s decision to leave the WHO, the remaining 192 states attending the assembly may decide on whether to recognise their departures and strike them from the list of countries owing money to the UN agency.

“From an organisational point of view, a clarification would be needed from the WHA, which could be explicit or implicit,” a Geneva-based diplomat said, adding that as long as the assembly doesn’t pronounce itself, a “grey zone” will prevail over whether the states are still in or out.

Speaking to Geneva Solutions, another European health diplomat said there was a strong cross-regional alignment that drawing more attention to it would not be in anyone’s interests. Member states may prefer to maintain the status quo in the hope that the deserters return to the WHO at a later date, as did the Soviet Union after its brief withdrawal in the early 1950s, when it paid token membership fees on its return.

Pandemic treaty on hold. Early this week, countries will decide on whether to extend by a year talks on a pandemic treaty annex, designed to ensure that developing states share pathogens with pandemic potential in exchange for equitable access to vaccines and other treatments.

Talks on the Pabs annex were suspended earlier this month after countries failed to agree on fundamental principles. A resumption of negotiations is expected in early July.

Order in the (global health) house. When the WHO Executive Board, its supreme governing body, met in February, a proposal was made to reform the global health architecture and improve collaboration with non-UN organisations, such as Gavi and the Global Fund, which were also affected by donor cuts.

This week, member states are discussing the plan, which aims to improve efficiency and governance across the ecosystem by drawing on “existing reform initiatives” and “elements” of the UN80 reform plan.

Board election drama? The ten slots up for grabs on the WHO’s 34-member Executive Board are set to be announced, though the process may not be as straightforward as some expect.

The United Kingdom and Georgia, which had been chosen to fill Europe’s two slots in a secret committee vote last November, may, however, be blindsided. Russia, which had previously alternated with France and the UK in the past for one of the two seats, may still crash the party if it self-nominates within 24-hours of today’s WHA opening, pushing the final selection to a vote.

Look out for… The first candidates hoping to succeed Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus as director general, who will step down in May next year, are expected to begin courting support at this week’s meeting. Read more about what to expect here.

— Paula Dupraz-Dobias

Demonstrators protest against cuts to US foreign aid spending on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, 26 February 2025. (Keystone/AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

❝Ambiguity by design? What the US anti-DEI foreign aid policy means for international Geneva. New restrictions on US foreign assistance go far beyond anything seen before, and may leave Geneva’s multilateral institutions scrambling to comply, writes Hannah Reinl of International Gender Champions.