As delegates gather for the 78th World Health Assembly, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) is urging global health leaders to take decisive action to protect the world’s most vulnerable communities—and to safeguard global health security in the process. In a world where conflict, climate shocks, and the resurgence of infectious diseases are converging with major funding cuts, the IRC warns that millions of lives are at risk unless the global community shifts course.
Outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases are on the rise in humanitarian and conflict-affected settings, driven by climate change and declining immunisation rates. Community-based health services are foundational for vaccine delivery in contexts facing insecurity and limitations on humanitarian access. In 20 months, the IRC-led Reaching Every Child in Humanitarian Settings (REACH) consortium, funded by Gavi the Vaccine Alliance and powered by a robust network of 15 local partners, administered 13 million vaccine doses in East Africa and the Sahel to underimmunized and zero-dose children. By institutionalising the model of providing doses and funding directly to frontline actors, humanitarians can ensure children and entire communities are protected from debilitating diseases.
The growing threat of future pandemics also looms large, spurned by conflict, displacement, and climate change. The IRC supports over 15,000 community health workers across all country programs, training them to detect, report, and respond to early signs of epidemic threats and deliver life-saving healthcare to the last mile. But recent aid cuts are severely undermining this frontline. “Preparing for the next pandemic starts by investing where outbreaks begin,” said Dr. Mesfin Teklu Tessema, Senior Director of Health at the IRC.“The IRC welcomes the WHO’s draft pandemic agreement and urges member states at the World Health Assembly to pass it urgently. Without restored funding, focus and renewed commitment, we risk not seeing the next pandemic until it’s too late.”
In addition to infectious diseases, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are also surging in humanitarian settings, yet remain critically overlooked in global health financing. These chronic conditions are a leading cause of mortality among displaced populations; building strong, comprehensive primary health care systems is the only way to equitably reach people living through crisis with the care they need. The IRC urges continued focus on NCDs in the lead-up to the UN General Assembly, ensuring that humanitarian settings are prioritized by the international community.
Maternal and neonatal mortality reductions have also stagnated particularly in humanitarian contexts, with postpartum hemorrhage a leading cause of maternal death. The IRC urges governments and the health community to ramp up efforts to end preventable maternal and newborn deaths particularly in humanitarian contexts.
“Global health security is not a luxury. It is a strategic imperative—one that demands sustained, coordinated investment,” Dr. Tessema continued.“The latest cuts to global health programming worldwide are a clarion call, especially as we face a new era of aid, marked by rising needs and shrinking resources. The planned sunset of the Gates Foundation adds new urgency and opportunity to accelerate progress against global health priorities: whether it's chronic disease in crisis settings, the scourge of maternal mortality or the emergence of new pathogens, we must act now to invest in resilient health systems that protect everyone. The World Health Assembly is the time to act.”
Around the world, the IRC’s health experts partner with organizations such as Gates Foundation, Foundation S - The Sanofi Collective, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, The Pfizer Foundation, the Cencora Impact Foundation, GiveWell and Novo Nordisk Foundation to create lasting impact.
The IRC's health programs reach people in 36 countries, providing life-saving services and tackling the root causes of disease. IRC’s health programming reached 27.4 million people last year. IRC provided over 1,250,000 non-communicable disease consultations alone in 2024. Health comprises nearly half of the IRC’s program portfolio globally with a focus on scaling six priority areas including immunization, nutrition, contraception, infection prevention and control, and provision of clean water.