As the 78th World Health Assembly convenes in Geneva, it does so against a backdrop of profound change in the global health landscape. For decades, Western powers – particularly the United States and the European Union – have played the dominant role in shaping global health policy, funding key programs, and driving multilateral efforts through institutions like the World Health Organization (WHO). But that era of Western primacy is drawing to a close.

Amid political retreat and funding cuts from traditional donors, most notably the US under a returning Trump administration, a new group of actors is stepping into the vacuum. Chief among them: the nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Once peripheral to global health decision-making, countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are rapidly becoming central figures – not just through financial contributions, but through a distinct and deliberate model of leadership focused on outcomes, innovation, and strategic diplomacy.

The shift is not merely symbolic. It is operational and urgent. With President Donald Trump’s return to the White House, the US has again withdrawn support for the WHO’s core budget, slashed federal funding for pandemic preparedness, and banned federal agencies from participating in climate-linked health research. These moves, echoing the isolationist policies of Trump’s first term, significantly weaken global coordination on health security at a time when the world faces compounding challenges – from future pandemics and antimicrobial resistance to climate-related illnesses and demographic pressures on healthcare systems.

Even the broader UN health ecosystem is under strain. UNAIDS recently announced that it would cut staffing and country coverage by up to 50 percent. And within major donor circles, there is talk of a wider reshuffling of global........

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