In 2023, more than 340 million people required humanitarian assistance. Nearly 5 billion lack universal health coverage, and one in four experienced catastrophic out-of-pocket health expenses. Global emissions are rising, average temperatures are climbing, and with them come heatwaves, vector-borne diseases, and pressure on food and water systems. It is in this context that the World Health Organization (WHO) has launched its new four-year strategy: “A Global Health Strategy for 2025–2028”, the Fourteenth General Programme of Work (GPW 14), adopted at the 77th World Health Assembly.
This is not just another technical document. It is a strategic compass, an operational agenda, and a call for renewed commitment. It’s also a strong signal to the pharmaceutical industry, governments, and global health stakeholders that coordinated action is not only urgent, but possible.
A strategy for a changing world
The starting point of the GPW 14 is both simple and vertiginous: the world has changed — and in ways that profoundly impact health. Climate change, for instance, is framed as an “escalating health threat.” The Lancet Countdown estimates that 7 million deaths each year are linked to air pollution, 8 million to unhealthy diets, and 3 million to harmful alcohol use.
Demographics matter too. By 2030, 25% of the global population will live in contexts of fragility, conflict, or vulnerability. Forced displacement affects over 1 billion people. In 2023 alone, the world saw the loss of 5 million children under five, nearly half of them in the neonatal period. Maternal mortality remains stubbornly high at around 300,000 deaths per year — a figure unchanged in nearly a decade.
Meanwhile, the burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) continues to grow: 41 million annual deaths, or 74% of all global mortality, are due to NCDs like cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory illnesses. One in six people worldwide lives with a disability. 2 billion need rehabilitation. 1 billion live with a mental disorder, and 700,000 people die by suicide each year.
Promote, provide, protect
The GPW 14 sets a clear three-part mission: promote health, provide quality services, and protect people from emergencies. This is broken down into six strategic objectives, 15 joint outcomes (shared across countries, WHO, and partners), and 4 corporate outcomes describing WHO’s specific contributions.
The six core focus areas are:
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Responding to climate change as a health threat
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Strengthening prevention through action on health determinants
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Building resilient health systems grounded in Primary Health Care
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Ensuring Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and financial protection
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Improving emergency preparedness and response
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Enhancing surveillance and rapid response capacities
A theory of change underpins the strategy, emphasizing health leadership, the creation of global public goods (data, research, standards), tailored country support, and digital and technological innovation.
A stronger WHO, with a price tag: $11.2 billion
The WHO seeks to solidify its central role in the global health ecosystem — not only as a technical authority, but as an enabler and catalyst for collective action. To do so, the strategy calls for $11.2 billion in core funding for 2025–2028, with $7 billion to be mobilized through a dedicated investment round. The aim is to make WHO predictably and sustainably financed, free from the constraints of earmarked funding.
That investment supports three top-line goals:
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6 billion people enjoying better health and well-being
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5 billion covered by UHC without financial hardship
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7 billion better protected from health emergencies
Pharma’s role: Access, innovation, responsibility
The GPW 14 challenges the life sciences industry to go beyond innovation, toward shared responsibility. Antimicrobial resistance remains “alarming and largely unchecked.” The strategy calls for robust regulation, transparent pricing models, and genuine public-private collaboration.
Meanwhile, digital health — from AI to telemedicine — offers enormous promise. But it must be safe, validated, and inclusive, particularly in underserved settings. WHO is building a new digital health platform, backed by partners like the World Bank, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and UNEP.
Health in the age of complexity
Nel documento affiora una consapevolezza matura: la salute, oggi, è un problema complesso che si nutre di interdipendenze. Clima, cibo, mobilità, istruzione, finanza pubblica: tutto influisce. L’85% dei più poveri del mondo vivrà in contesti fragili entro il 2030. Il 99% della popolazione mondiale respira aria inquinata oltre i limiti raccomandati. Più di 735 milioni di persone soffrono la fame cronica, e 333 milioni sono in condizione di grave insicurezza alimentare.
Il GPW 14 insiste dunque sulla necessità di un approccio intersettoriale: dalla scuola alla finanza, dall’agricoltura all’urbanistica, ogni politica pubblica può e deve contribuire al benessere collettivo. Si punta a misurare il progresso non solo in PIL, ma in “benessere prodotto lordo“.
A global agenda with local impact
Crucially, the strategy focuses not only on vision but on delivery. WHO will invest in stronger country offices, “delivery for impact” mechanisms, and performance frameworks that tie global goals to local realities. The message is clear: measurable results must happen at country level — in clinics, communities, and health systems.
For the pharma and life sciences sector — particularly in Europe — this implies a shift. Innovation is no longer enough. What matters is implementation, contextualization, and public value. The new era of global health calls for co-design, humility, and accountability.
WHO’s 2025–2028 Global Health Strategy is not an abstract blueprint. It is an urgent, data-driven, and values-based roadmap. In a world facing converging crises, health is once again at the center — not only as a technical issue, but as a social, environmental, and economic imperative.
This is a moment of truth. A time to build stronger systems, fairer policies, and broader coalitions. A time to ensure that health, as declared in the WHO Constitution in 1948, is not a privilege, but a fundamental right for all people.