In 2025, the seventy-eighth World Health Assembly (WHA78) will take place in Geneva from 19 to 27 May 2025 with proceedings available via live stream.
The World Health Assembly is the WHO's decision-making body. It's convened every year in May and its main functions are to determine WHO policies, programmes and budgets, in addition to appointing the Director-General.
WHA78 Calendar of Events
The NCD Alliance has started publishing a calendar of NCD-relevant events taking place on the sidelines of WHA78.
The calendar is regularly updated. If you would like us to include your event on the calendar, please share the details with us via this form.
NCD Alliance co-hosted events
Date & time: Sunday, 18 May 2025, 15:30 – 16:45 CEST
Location: Campus Biotech, 9 Chemin des Mines, 1202 Geneva
Building on the momentum developed at the Global NCD Alliance Forum (Kigali, 13-15 February), and through the civil society participation in the UN Multistakeholder Hearing in (New York, 2nd May), NCD Alliance and World Heart Federation are organising a session at the World Heart Summit, on the sidelines of the 78th World Health Assembly. The event will seek to set the bar high for the HLM4 and beyond. It will provide a platform for open dialogue on the urgent priorities and commitments that must be embedded in the UN HLM Political Declaration, ensuring bold, actionable measures to tackle the burden of NCDs in an evolving global health landscape.
The event is free but registration is required. Learn more and register here
Road to the UN High-Level Meeting
2025 is a pivotal year in the global health agenda, especially for noncommunicable diseases(NCDs) and mental health. This year’s UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs and Mental Health (UN HLM) is a crucial opportunity for advocates to come together and jointly push for progress in this space.
In this light, Boehringer Ingelheim, in collaboration with the NCD Alliance, would like to invite you to a series of events on NCD policies on Monday 19 May at the InterContinental Genève (Chemin du Petit-Saconnex 7-9, 1209 Geneva).
Find out more details about each of them and register here.
Every year more than 10 million people die unnecessarily from consuming tobacco, alcohol, and sugary beverages. Evidence demonstrates that health taxes are one of the most effective ways to reduce the consumption of unhealthy products, ideally as part of a strategic public health approach. To consider how to best accelerate the implementation of health taxes, the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, together with the World Health Organization, the Governments of Norway and Tonga, the NCD Alliance and Bloomberg Philanthropies, is convening a short lunch-time discussion on the sidelines of the 2025 World Health Assembly to consider:
- What are the barriers for policymakers to accelerate health taxes implementation?
- How can health research and learning help overcome these barriers?
- How can global institutions and agencies best support the effective implementation of health taxes?
Please RSVP at [email protected]
Political Declaration Zero Draft: Analysis and Discussion from NCD Alliance
Date: Tuesday, 20 May, 14:30 CEST
Location: Zoom webinar
With the zero-draft of the political declaration on NCDs and mental health expected in the coming weeks, NCD Alliance is hosting a webinar to share analysis and intelligence at this critical juncture. We will share analysis of high points in the draft, as well as areas of concern for advocates to bring to member states. We hope you join us to discuss this critical juncture in the lead up to the fourth High-Level Meeting on NCDs and Mental Health.
Please register to join the webinar here
Advancing NCD Care in Humanitarian Settings Ahead of UNHLM 2025
Date: Tuesday, 20 May, 17:00 – 19:00
Location: IFRC- HQs, Auditorium B, Chemin Crêts 17, Petit Saconnex, 1209, Geneva, Switzerland
Co-hosts: IFRC, Danish Red Cross, ICRC, NCD Alliance, IRC, IADA, UNHCR.
The event aims to:
- Position NCD care in humanitarian settings as a global health priority, ensuring that the needs of people living with NCDs are well reflected in the UN resolution to be endorsed at the 2025 UNHLM, while paving the way for future commitments on NCDs.
- Inspire global and national stakeholders to champion the integration of NCD care into emergency preparedness, response, and recovery, advocating for its inclusion in policy platforms to ensure comprehensive and resilient health systems.
- Facilitate the development of multisectoral partnerships with the potential to secure commitments and mobilise sustainable financing for integrating NCD care—including prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, palliative care, and MHPSS—into emergency health responses.
- Showcase lessons learned and community-driven solutions from humanitarian contexts, highlighting best practices from implementers and community organisations.
More information on NCDA resources and side-events will be available soon.