Geneva, Switzerland, 24 April 2026- /African Media Agency (AMA)/- World Health Organization (WHO) is poised to be a significant presence at the upcoming World Health Summit (WHS) Regional Meeting 2026 in Nairobi, Kenya. For the first time at either a global or regional level, WHO is co-organizing a meeting with the World Health Summit. This initiative has been spearheaded by WHO in the African region and is the result of an innovative partnership with WHS and Aga Khan University, Kenya.
The regional meeting, taking place from 27‒29 April 2026, will bring together global health leaders, policymakers, researchers and development partners to advance solutions for stronger and more resilient health systems.
Hosted by WHS and Aga Khan University and held in partnership with WHO, the Ministry of Health in Kenya and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the meeting will bring together over 1000 delegates from around 50 countries, participating in 80 sessions focused on strengthening health systems resilience, advancing universal health coverage and accelerating innovation in global health.
WHO has been actively engaged in the development of 80% of the meeting sessions, helping shape an agenda which focuses on strengthening health systems resilience, advancing universal health coverage and accelerating practical solutions to emerging health challenges.
“The World Health Summit Regional Meeting will focus on a theme that is important for the continent of Africa. We will be looking at the rising burden of chronic disease, changing patterns of infectious diseases and the health financing landscape in Africa and beyond,” says Professor Lukoye Atwoli, Dean of Medical College East Africa at The Aga Khan University, Kenya, and President of WHS Regional Meeting 2026.
Dr Mohamed Janabi, WHO Regional Director for Africa, is a keynote speaker in six high-level sessions, including the opening ceremony which will be attended by His Excellency Williams Ruto, President of Kenya. Dr Janabi will also be speaking at 4 sessions that are being led and organized by WHO in the African Region. Topics range from global health security, health financing, and digital health sovereignty to an important side event on the development of the WHO AFRO Regional Strategic Plan 2026–2030 and Vision 2035.
“The WHO Regional Office for Africa is honoured to co-convene this World Health Summit Regional Meeting. Over these three days we will consolidate proof and deepen resolve. We will leave with regional commitments that are global in ambition,” says Dr Janabi.
Aside from Dr Janabi, Dr Hanan Balkhy, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Region, and Dr Hans Kluge, WHO Regional Director for the European Region, will attend the summit and give keynote speeches in several sessions. Eleven WHO programme directors from around the globe will attend as speakers and seven WHO staff are panel chairs for sessions. WHO has a confirmed speaker in 22 of the 80 sessions.
In total, almost 90 WHO staff are participating in the regional meeting. This includes around 20 support staff who will provide administrative, logistics and communications support to WHO speakers, chairs and other delegates. Staff are drawn from 4 country offices—Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Ghana—the three regional offices and WHO headquarters in Geneva.
The WHO exhibition booth promises to be a dynamic and meaningful space, featuring latest WHO publications, an interactive virtual reality installation which simulates polio vaccination in a community, and a demonstration of a WHO-developed AI application for emergency response.
Distributed by African Media Agency (AMA) on behalf of World Health Organisation.
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