From Resolution to Impact: How BCIU Supports Global Health Policy at WHA

Geneva is the center of the global health universe. Every May, health ministers, diplomats, technical experts, and private sector leaders converge on the city for the World Health Assembly (WHA), the annual decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO). There, member states discuss global health issues, approve budgets and programs, and advance new resolutions. The resolutions passed at WHA each year carry significant weight, helping countries shape national health priorities and influence how the world responds to its most pressing health challenges.

Resolutions are the result of years of evidence-building, advocacy, and cross-sector collaboration. BCIU has played a meaningful role in that process, bringing together the private sector, government officials, and multilateral stakeholders at key moments to advance shared health priorities.

The path from public health challenge to WHA resolution is complex, and BCIU engages at several key points along the way. Across the process, BCIU helps connect stakeholders during early stages to raise awareness, supports momentum as resolutions move toward a vote, and convenes partners to help turn adopted resolutions into action. The following three examples from the margins of the 79^th WHA (WHA79) in May 2026 illustrate BCIU’s contributions across these stages:

Building the case

Change at the policy level begins with conversation. At this stage, the goal is to build awareness, generate interest, and answer a basic but essential question: Why should the international community act on this issue?

Over the past five years, BCIU has worked with its members to answer this question across a variety of health issues.  BCIU co-hosted a high-level roundtable with the Ministry of Health and Social Services of the Republic of Namibia, Children’s HeartLink, GE HealthCare Foundation, and Siemens Healthineers to begin building the case for childhood-onset heart disease (COHD). COHD is the most common birth defect globally, affecting approximately one in 100 newborns. [1] [2] Despite this toll, COHD has not been adequately addressed in existing global health frameworks.

This roundtable was one example of how BCIU helps elevate emerging health issues by bringing stakeholders together early to define the challenge, identify areas for change, and build momentum for policy action. Discussion focused on surveillance gaps, financing mechanisms, workforce capacity, and policy pathways, helping stakeholders better understand both the scale of need and the case for a WHO resolution. As a result, momentum is growing to elevate COHD as a global health priority and catalyze national and international action.

Turning Momentum into Policy

Reaching the voting stage at the World Health Assembly is a pivotal moment for any global health challenge, signaling that years of advocacy have culminated in a formal resolution before 194 member states. In the case of stroke, BCIU has helped convene stakeholders at key moments over the years to build momentum and support the resolution’s path toward adoption.

Stroke is one example of an issue that has crossed this critical juncture, reflecting growing recognition of the need for stronger political attention and coordinated global action. It is the second leading cause of death globally, accounting for approximately seven million deaths and 160 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) each year.[3] More than three-quarters of stroke-related deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where access to stroke unit care, timely imaging, and proven treatments remain out of reach for most patients.

In September 2025, BCIU and the Global Stroke Action Coalition (GSAC) co-hosted “Every Minute Counts: Accelerating the Global NCD Response through Urgent Action on Stroke” on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. At the event, Egypt announced it would author a WHA resolution on stroke, moving the issue from an emerging priority to the formal process. The resolution was approved by the WHO Executive Board in January 2026, and ahead of the member state vote this year, BCIU hosted a follow-up event on the margins of WHA79 with GSAC and the Ministry of Health and Population of the Arab Republic of Egypt to align stakeholders on both the resolution’s adoption and early implementation priorities.

On May 22, 2026, WHO member states approved the resolution, “Reducing the burden of stroke: strengthening prevention, acute care, rehabilitation and health-system readiness,” marking the first time the global community has formally committed to a comprehensive mandate on stroke prevention, acute care, and rehabilitation.

Putting Resolutions to Work

BCIU also plays a key role after a resolution is adopted, convening stakeholders to help translate global commitments into national policies, action plans, and measurable results.

One example is the WHA resolution “Strengthening medical imaging capacity”, adopted at WHA78 in May 2025. The resolution addressed one of healthcare’s most persistent inequities: less than 10% of the world’s medical imaging equipment can be found in LMICs, despite the fact that an estimated 70% of all clinical decisions depend on access to accurate diagnostic tools.[4] Research has shown that scaling imaging access in LMICs to levels comparable to those in high-income country levels could prevent an estimated 9.5 million deaths over a decade, with an economic return of more than $12 USD for every dollar invested.[5]

The day before the resolution vote in May 2025, BCIU and the Global Diagnostic Imaging, Healthcare IT and Radiation Therapy Trade Association (DITTA), supported by Philips and GE HealthCare, convened health leaders to begin shaping an implementation agenda. Following the resolution’s passage, BCIU brought stakeholders together again in September 2025 on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to discuss how countries could begin turning the resolution’s commitments into action as part of the broader global agenda on noncommunicable diseases.

A year later at WHA79, BCIU convened global partners to assess progress. Representatives from five countries shared concrete advances in their national imaging programs over the preceding 12 months, offering early evidence of global commitments translating into action on the ground.

Why it matters

Turning global resolutions into results requires a new model of partnership. Recent global health frameworks have made it increasingly clear that meaningful progress depends on the engagement of the private sector, not only as implementers, but as strategic partners in shaping and supporting solutions. Companies that help frame the problem and engage governments from the outset are better positioned to contribute when it comes time to implement. In this evolving landscape, BCIU helps bridge public and private sector stakeholders to align priorities and accelerate implementation.

“Implementation moves faster when relationships are already in place,” says Eleni Kokolakis, Program Officer, Life Sciences at BCIU. “That early trust creates the foundation for real progress.”

This early engagement reflects a broader evolution in global health: The private sector is increasingly viewed not just as a source of funding, but as a partner in shaping solutions. This approach helps governments turn ambitious resolutions into tangible, on-the-ground results that benefit populations.

[1] Zimmerman MS, Smith AGC, Sable CA, et al. Global, regional, and national burden of congenital heart disease, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health. 2020;4(3):185-200. doi:10.1016/S2352-4642(19)30402-X

[2] Watkins DA, Johnson CO, Colquhoun SM, Karthikeyan G, Beaton A, Bukhman G, et al. Global, regional, and national burden of rheumatic heart disease, 1990-2015.N Engl J Med. 2017; 377:713–722. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1603693

[3] WHO. The top 10 causes of death. Aug 7, 2024. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/the-top-10-causes-of-death

[4] Hricak H, Abdel-Wahab M, Atun R, et al. Strengthening medical imaging capacity: the time is now. Lancet Oncol. 2025; 26: 7-9.

[5] Hricak H, Abdel-Wahab M, Atun R et al. Medical imaging and nuclear medicine: a Lancet Oncology Commission. The Lancet Oncology. 2021; 22, e136-e172