79th World Health Assembly: Ukraine and WHO signed Biennial Collaborative Agreement
The Seventy-ninth session of the World Health Assembly, the highest decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO), opened in Geneva. Ukraine is represented by a delegation led by the Minister of Health of Ukraine, Viktor Liashko.
On the sidelines of the Assembly, Minister Viktor Liashko and Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, signed a Biennial Collaborative Agreement (BCA) between the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and the WHO Regional Office for Europe for 2026–2027.
The document establishes the framework for cooperation between Ukraine and WHO for the next two years and outlines key areas of joint work aimed at restoring and strengthening Ukraine’s healthcare system during the ongoing war and the post-war recovery period.
“The partnership with the WHO is extremely important for Ukraine, especially amid a full-scale war, when the healthcare system is operating under constant strain. The new Biennial Collaborative Agreement will enable us to continue systematic cooperation in key areas: restoring medical infrastructure, developing rehabilitation and mental health services, strengthening the public health sector, digitalization and adapting the Ukrainian healthcare system to European Union standards.”
The Agreement outlines cooperation in several strategic areas, including ensuring access to high-quality, affordable healthcare services; developing primary healthcare; enhancing preparedness and response to health emergencies; preventing diseases and reducing risk factors; strengthening the institutional capacity of the healthcare system; and supporting reforms aligned with Ukraine’s European integration efforts.
The document places particular emphasis on the development of rehabilitation and mental health services, human resources in the health sector, the fight against noncommunicable diseases, support for immunization, and strengthening the health system’s capacity to respond to the challenges posed by war.
It also supports Ukraine on its path to European integration, particularly in harmonizing legislation and implementing international standards in the healthcare sector.
The signing of the Agreement marked another step toward deepening cooperation between Ukraine and the WHO, as well as strengthening international support for Ukraine’s healthcare system.
As part of its participation in the Assembly, the Ukrainian delegation also took part in a series of international meetings focused on the resilience of healthcare systems, addressing the challenges of war, and fostering international partnerships.
The Assembly hosted the OncoCorridor thematic event, dedicated to ensuring the continuity of cancer care for patients from countries affected by war and humanitarian crises. Participants discussed the importance of maintaining timely access to diagnosis and treatment, as well as the need to implement clearly organized support pathways. These pathways include identifying patients’ medical needs, securely transferring data, coordinating treatment, providing patient support, and follow-up care.
Minister Viktor Liashko met with representatives of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. He expressed gratitude to the Global Fund for its long-standing support of Ukraine. Since 2003, the Fund has provided over USD 913 million in grant funding to implement programs addressing HIV, tuberculosis, viral hepatitis, and the COVID-19 response. The parties discussed further cooperation, support for the laboratory network, the development of centers for disease control and prevention, and strengthening the state’s role in ensuring the sustainability of these efforts.
The Minister also held a meeting with Dr Sania Nishtar, Chief Executive Officer of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, where the parties discussed continued support for Ukraine’s immunization program and the strengthening of the public health system in 2026. The discussion focused on USD 10 million in funding, which is critical to ensuring the stable operation of the immunization program amid the ongoing war.
As part of the cooperation between Ukraine, Gavi, WHO, and UNICEF, Ukraine maintained an uninterrupted supply of vaccines for children under the Immunization Schedule in 2025. It also increased vaccination coverage among children to 95%, in line with the WHO-recommended level for herd immunity. In particular, vaccination coverage for pertussis, diphtheria, and tetanus (DTP3), administered at six months of age, as well as for polio (Pol3), increased to 93%. Coverage for measles, mumps, and rubella among one-year-old children (MMR1) reached 95%. With the Alliance’s support, mobile vaccination teams carried out 2,364 outreach sessions, vaccinating over 53,700 people, mostly in remote communities. Furthermore, a separate area of cooperation involved the introduction of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine into the Immunization Schedule. More than 65,000 doses have already been administered, covering more than 16% of girls aged 12 to 13. In the first year of rollout, this represents a high coverage rate and a strategic step in the prevention of oncological diseases.
Within the first day’s agenda, the Minister also held a series of bilateral meetings with international partners, including representatives from France, Finland, Rwanda, China, the Philippines, Sweden, and the Baltic States.
The parties discussed continued support for Ukraine’s healthcare system amid the war, including medical evacuation, rehabilitation, prosthetics, mental health services, and the restoration of healthcare infrastructure. They also addressed the implementation of digital solutions and the expansion of international medical partnerships between hospitals to improve the exchange of expertise and the training of medical personnel. During the meeting with representatives from Rwanda, discussions focused on strengthening Ukraine’s dialogue with African countries in healthcare, as well as the potential establishment of a Ukrainian-Rwandan medical center, with the prospect of developing it into a regional medical hub.
It is important to note that systematic cooperation with these partners is already underway, encompassing humanitarian aid, medical evacuation, hospital reconstruction, the development of Ukraine's rehabilitation system, and the implementation of new digital solutions.
The Ministry of Health of Ukraine expresses its gratitude to all international partners for their consistent support, which strengthens the resilience of the Ukrainian healthcare system, supports patients, and ensures uninterrupted access to medical care even during wartime. Efforts in this area will continue.
