Kee Park

It was my special privilege and honour to present my friend, former Executive Director of the @WHO Health Emergencies Programme and colleague Dr Mike Ryan from #Ireland, with the Director-General's Award for Global Health for his leadership in strengthening global health emergency preparedness and response. Mike helped establish the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (@WHOGOARN), which has supported responses to hundreds of disease outbreaks worldwide. From leading WHO’s response to major health emergencies, including SARS, Ebola and COVID-19, to also serving as Deputy Director-General, his leadership has helped shape how the world detects, prepares for and responds to health emergencies. Mike's work has had a profound and lasting impact on the protection of vulnerable communities and global health security. #WHA79

Powerful moments from the TBI Side Event Session at #WHA79, moderated by @keepark, culminating in H.E. Minister Barnoya of Guatemala announcing co-sponsorship of the resolution to recognize TBI as a chronic and notifiable condition! 🧠🙌🏼

At #WHA79, I was pleased to join a timely and forward-looking discussion on health care financing for universal health coverage #UHC. I would like to thank Burkina Faso, Jordan, Syrian Arab Republic and Türkiye and the @OIC_OCI for bringing together partners to tackle one of the defining health challenges of our time. At a moment of growing financial pressure on health systems, these conversations are more important than ever to help identify sustainable, locally driven solutions that protect access to care and strengthen resilience for the future. Traditional and innovative financing mechanisms, including Awqaf, Zakat, Sukuk and partnerships with development banks and the private sector, can help complement public financing and accelerate progress towards #UHC. The priority now is moving from discussion to implementation: strengthening governance, building evidence, aligning these mechanisms with national health financing strategies, and advancing practical country-level action that delivers equitable impact for communities across the @WHOEMRO Region and beyond. @WHOJordan | @mohgovjordan | @JordanUNGeneva | @WHOSyria | @syrianmofaex | @SyriatoUN | @SyrMOfH | @TC_BMCenevreDT | @WHO_Turkiye | @WHOAFRO | @WHO_Europe

At a #WHA79 side event on traumatic brain injury (TBI), I joined partners and Member States to advance a stronger global response to one of the most overlooked public health challenges of our time. With an estimated 69 million TBIs occurring every year globally, recognizing TBI as a notifiable and chronic condition can help strengthen prevention, surveillance, emergency care, rehabilitation and long-term support, especially in fragile and conflict-affected settings. In the Eastern Mediterranean Region, the burden is compounded by conflict and displacement, making stronger trauma systems and continuity of care an urgent priority. I thank Pakistan for formally submitting a draft resolution recognizing TBI as a notifiable, chronic and preventable condition, and Indonesia and Türkiye for co-sponsoring this important effort toward stronger global action on TBI. Appreciation also goes to the @TBICoalition, @theG4Alliance, the Program in Global Surgery and Social Change @HarvardPGSSC, and the International Health Systems group at the University of Cambridge @Cambridge_Uni for convening this timely dialogue and advancing momentum toward a WHA resolution that puts patients, dignity and long-term recovery at the centre of global health action.