IRC to World Health Assembly: Close the Global Health Equity Gap — for the World’s Benefit

Geneva, Switzerland, May 18, 2026 - As the world faces the largest Ebola outbreak in more than a decade in a region with chronic violence and instability, and as infectious diseases such as the hantavirus command global attention, the International Rescue Committee is urging delegates gathering for the 79th World Health Assembly (WHA79) to make sustained investments into fragile and conflict-affected states.

In fragile and conflict-affected settings, health systems have been blighted by climate crisis, conflict, extreme poverty and the ongoing impact of crippling funding cuts, the IRC said, leaving millions of people vulnerable to preventable death and disease at far greater rates than their peers in stable settings.

The 20 fragile and conflict-affected countries on the IRC's annual Emergency Watchlist account for 12% of the world's population but nearly 90% of global humanitarian need. Children in these countries are three times more likely to die before their fifth birthday than peers in stable countries; maternal mortality runs four to five times the global average; around half of the world's 14 million never-vaccinated children live here; and global health financing has fallen by up to 40% since 2023 - with the communities least able to absorb cuts bearing the greatest share of them.

Dr. Mesfin Teklu Tessema, Senior Director of Health at the International Rescue Committee, said:

"The risks are growing and the resources are shrinking - that is the brutal arithmetic facing global health today. Yet within that crisis lies an opportunity: proven, cost-effective interventions that save lives locally and protect global health security. Immunizing a child in Ethiopia, treating malnutrition in South Sudan, preventing a maternal death in Burkina Faso - these are not acts of charity. They are the highest-return investments in global health available to us, and WHA79 must make the case for funding them."

The IRC's work demonstrates that this equity gap can be closed cost-effectively, at scale, using solutions that already exist. What is missing are the resources, commitment and political will to fund proven models and extend their reach to the people who need them most.

The IRC supports over 17,500 community health workers across all country programs, training them to detect, report, and respond to early signs of epidemic threats from measles to Ebola, and to deliver life-saving healthcare to the last mile. The IRC is closing the gap through proven, cost-effective interventions and turbocharging last-mile delivery with the assistance of artificial intelligence.

The IRC-led REACH (Reaching Every Child in Humanitarian Settings) consortium, funded by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, has delivered more than 30 million vaccine doses across Chad, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan, and South Sudan since 2022, reaching more than one million zero-dose children at less than $2 per dose.

Built on community health workers and local partners, REACH demonstrates what models designed for fragile and conflict-affected settings can achieve. The broader investment case for immunization is clear: every dollar spent on vaccines in low- and middle-income countries generates $20 in healthcare savings and recovered productivity - and over $50 in broader economic value when the full returns of longer, healthier lives are counted.

Globally, an estimated 43 million children under five are acutely malnourished, yet fewer than one in five receive treatment. The IRC delivers community-based treatment for acute malnutrition using ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) - a simple, peanut-based treatment that allows up to 95% of affected children to recover within weeks while reducing costs by at least 20%.

Over the past several years, IRC has helped build a strong evidence base showing that simplified malnutrition treatment - specifically, the IRC's ComPAS protocol, which relies on one product, at one point of care, delivered by community health workers - to treating acute malnutrition can be just as effective as traditional models, while reducing costs by at least 20%.

In settings where the IRC works, maternal mortality remains up to five times the global average, and entire communities pay the price. Postpartum haemorrhage accounts for 27% of all maternal deaths worldwide; nearly 80% of PPH-related deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. The IRC recently launched the Safer Births in Crises (SBC) initiative - a consortium with International Medical Corps, Jhpiego, and UNFPA, supported by the Matariki Fund for Women under Rt. Hon. Dame Jacinda Ardern - to address preventable maternal and newborn deaths in South Sudan, Burkina Faso, and Papua New Guinea.

The IRC is using artificial intelligence and geospatial mapping tools to improve outbreak detection and healthcare delivery in hard-to-reach communities.

Through the REACH Map initiative, powered by Atlas AI, the IRC will deploy satellite imagery and machine learning to identify children who have never been vaccinated, including in nomadic and hard-to-reach communities often missed by traditional health systems. The initiative also helps health workers plan more effective vaccination routes that adapt in real time to conflict, weather, and displacement.

The IRC is using climate forecasting and disease surveillance to provide information and aid to communities before outbreaks spread. This anticipatory action approach helped prevent the spread of dengue in Guatemala ahead of predicted flooding, and pre-positioned cholera response along the Sudan-Chad border before the disease crossed - saving lives and cutting costs.

The IRC is also partnering with NYU Grossman School of Medicine, which developed a smartphone-based AI diagnostic tool for mpox and other high-consequence diseases, working with Catholic University of Bukavu, DR Congo, to train and test the app on data from low-resource settings.

At WHA79, the IRC calls on Member States, donors, and the WHO Secretariat to recommit to leaving no-one behind in fragile and conflict-affected settings by:

• Prioritize and fund fragile and conflict-affected settings explicitly and accountably - with concrete multiyear financing tied to measurable outcomes, recognising that this is where per-dollar impact on lives saved is highest, and as a matter of smart and shared health security.
• Invest in delivery infrastructure, not just commodities - vaccines, therapeutic foods, and maternal health commodities are only as effective as the supply chains, health workforce, including community health workers and local partners who carry them to the last mile. In particular, IRC urges Member States and IA2030 partners to ensure that country plans developed for the Gavi 6.0 Strategy Period specifically embed humanitarian partners, dedicated financing, and programmatic linkages to reach missed communities.
• Support inclusive health innovation - AI diagnostics, geospatial tools, and cost-effectiveness platforms designed from the outset for high-burden, low-resource settings, not adapted from high-income models.

Around the world, the IRC partners with organizations such as GiveWell, Edesia, Weiss Asset Management Foundation, Gavi, The Pfizer Foundation, the Cencora Impact Foundation, and the Matariki Fund for Women to create lasting impact.

Media note: Interviews available in Geneva

Dr. Mesfin Teklu Tessema and IRC health policy staff are on the ground in Geneva for WHA79 and available for broadcast, print, and online interviews.