Now Live from Geneva: Official WHA79 Side Event: Protecting 26 Million Women and 20 Million Children from Sepsis
We are now live from Geneva with our official WHA79 Side Event on Sepsis – you can join us via the free YouTube livestream, including the option to chat live.
The event recording will be available at the same URL immediately after the livestream has concluded.
The Global Sepsis Alliance is honored to join its strategic partner, the Medical Women’s International Association (MWIA), in convening a high-level official side event on Sepsis during the 79th World Health Assembly (WHA79) in Geneva for the second time.
Titled “Protecting 26 Million Women and 20 Million Children from Sepsis – A Global Health Imperative,” the official WHA79 side event will take place on Thursday, May 21, 2026, from 18:00 to 19:30 CEST in Room XI at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
The event will bring together health ministers, representatives of international organizations, clinicians, advocates, parliamentarians, and global health leaders to strengthen political commitment and accelerate action against sepsis worldwide, especially for protecting newborns, children, and women.
Co-organizers of the event include Women in Global Health, the World Federation of Societies of Anesthesiologists (WFSA), the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA), Egypt, and Georgia.
The event is co-sponsored by prominent global health partners, including the Laerdal Foundation, the UNITE Parliamentarians Network for Global Health, the Virchow Foundation, the Sepsis Stiftung, the UK Sepsis Trust (UKST), the Sepsis Trust New Zealand, the Swiss Sepsis Program (SSP), the African Sepsis Alliance (ASA), the European Sepsis Alliance (ESA), and the Eastern Mediterranean Sepsis Alliance (EMSA), as well as national associations of Medical Women from Egypt, Georgia, and the United States.
Why Sepsis?
Sepsis remains a leading cause of death and disability worldwide, affecting an estimated 48.9 million people annually, including 26 million women and 20 million children under the age of five. Sepsis accounts for 1 in every 5 deaths globally, claiming the lives of 2.9 million children each year and remaining as the third leading cause of maternal mortality.
Women and children living in low-resource settings – both in low- and middle-income countries, as well as socially disadvantaged populations in high-income countries – are disproportionately affected. Furthermore, more than 360 million people affected by man-made or climate emergencies, humanitarian crises, and displacement due to man-made or climate emergencies, primarily women and children, face increased risks of sepsis. Finally, building on the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, during which 78% of ICU patients experienced viral sepsis, future pandemics are also likely to further increase the global burden of sepsis.
Without significant political commitment, research and resource investments into national, regional and global Sepsis responses, achieving the health-related 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will not be feasible – particularly those related to maternal, newborn and child health, as well as aspirations towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
Featured Speakers
The program will feature high-level opening remarks from global health leaders and policymakers, including special addresses by Dorothee Bär, Federal Minister of Research, Technology, and Space of Germany; H.E. Dr. Irakli Sasania - First Deputy Minister of IDPs from the Occupied Territories, Labor, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia, and H.E. Dr. Abla El-Alfy, Deputy Minister of Health for Population and Family Development of Egypt.
Featured speakers include Tore Laerdal, Executive Director, Laerdal Foundation; Hon. Ricardo Baptista Leite, President of the UNITE Parliamentarians Network for Global Health; Dr. Amany Asfour, President of the Medical Women’s International Association and Co-chair of Health Committee, National Council of Women of Egypt; Hannah Wu – Chief of Women’s Rights and Gender Section at the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Prof. Konrad Reinhart, Founding President of the Global Sepsis Alliance. The meeting will be chaired by Hon. Mariam Jashi, CEO of the Global Sepsis Alliance, former Parliamentarian and Deputy Minister of Health of Georgia.
You will also have the opportunity to hear the perspectives from the World Health Organization, international medical associations, parliamentarians, youth representatives, and Sepsis advocates.
Healthcare professionals, policymakers, researchers, advocates, students, and partners attending the World Health Assembly in Geneva are warmly invited to participate in person.