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Global health leaders and government ministers will convene in New York City and online on Thursday, September 24, 2026, for a high-level roundtable on reforming international health governance, addressing pandemic readiness, equitable resource distribution, and growing debt burdens in low- and middle-income countries.
The strategic dialogue, titled Rebalancing Global Health: Regional Platforms, Equity, and Fiscal Space for Public Health Security,
is organized on the margins of the 81st United Nations General Assembly and the United Nations High-Level Meeting on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response. The gathering brings together policymakers, multilateral institutions, and civil society at the University Club in Manhattan, alongside virtual access hosted via Zoom.
Co-Hosts and High-Level Leadership at the University Club
The initiative is co-hosted by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) Global Public Health Institute, Club de Madrid, and partner governments including Spain and Zambia. María Elena Agüero, Secretary General of Club de Madrid, will deliver the welcome remarks, while Michael Weinstein, President of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, provides the opening address.
Dr. Jorge Saavedra, Executive Director of the AHF Global Public Health Institute, moderates the 90-minute strategic dialogue. The speaker lineup features prominent international figures, including former Costa Rican President and Club de Madrid President Laura Chinchilla, Zambian Minister of Health Roma Chilengi, and Indonesian Minister of Health Budi Sadikin, who is a candidate for Director-General of the World Health Organization. Spain is represented by Ambassador Mencía Manso de Zúñiga, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Health.
Structural Pressures and the Push for Regional Autonomy
The roundtable unfolds against a severe fiscal and structural crunch in international public health. Organizers point out that official development assistance has recorded its steepest single-year decline on record. At the same time, mounting debt burdens continue to squeeze health budgets across low- and middle-income nations, compounding vulnerabilities exposed by recurring infectious disease outbreaks, climate-linked health threats, and antimicrobial resistance.
Amid these systemic strains, participants are examining whether regional mechanisms—such as the Africa CDC alongside emerging networks in Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean—can bridge the gap between national governments and global institutions. The discussion focuses on how decentralized regional architectures might enhance preparedness, response, and equity while granting individual countries greater autonomy.
The Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing Annex Deadlines
A major focus of the high-level roundtable involves ongoing international negotiations surrounding the WHO Pandemic Agreement. Diplomats and legal teams are racing to finalize the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) Annex ahead of the May 27 deadline, viewed by experts as a vital prerequisite for implementing the broader treaty.
The panel features expert analysis from Georgetown University’s Lawrence Gostin, alongside designated attendees including former Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi, Resilience Action Network Africa Executive Director Aggrey Aluso, Pace University and United Nations University Associate Professor Ana Amaya, and Kinz ul Eman, a Global South CSO Alternate Board Member for the Pandemic Fund Governing Board.
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