‘Empowered nurses save lives’ and advance the global health agenda; this was the message delivered by the International Council of Nurses (ICN) at the 79th World Health Assembly (WHA79). The Assembly, which took place in Geneva, Switzerland, on 18-23 May 2026, serves as the primary forum where Member States come together to address critical issues and draft multilateral strategies. WHA79 took place amid escalating public health emergencies, including Ebola outbreaks, geopolitical instability, funding cuts, and World Health Organisation (WHO) reforms.
Delegates adopted several measures relevant to nursing, including a new Strategy on the Economics of Health for All 2026–2030, an update to the WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel, and resolutions on emergency care and digital health.
The ICN highlighted evidence that nursing is an investment, rather than a cost, and that progress on health priorities – from emergency preparedness and primary healthcare to the economics of health for all – depends on a well-supported and structurally empowered nursing workforce.
The Council delivered individual statements at member state discussions on key WHA79 agenda items including mental health; communicable diseases and vaccination; universal health coverage; the Global Code for International Recruitment of Health Personnel; and health emergencies. It also co-led or joined constituency statements on the economics of health for all; health in the 2030 Agenda; digital health and AI; and reform of the global health architecture and UN80 initiative.
The ICN concluded its participation at the assembly by calling for urgent investment in, and protection of, the global nursing workforce. Speaking at the close of the Assembly, ICN President, José Luis Cobos Serrano, warned that the deficit of millions of nurses worldwide requires immediate action.
“With a global shortage of 5.8 million nurses and WHO warning the world will miss every health target by 2030 without urgent action, investing in nursing has never been more urgent. There can be no global health security without protecting and structurally empowering the world’s nurses.”
ICN First Vice-President, Sineva Ribeiro, said the Assembly reinforced the central role of nurses in delivering global health goals: “WHA79 showed beyond doubt that the global health agenda is a nursing agenda. Across every outcome – from emergency preparedness to the economics of health for all – the nursing and health workforce is the essential force that turns policy into practice.”
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