Participation of ICOH at the 79 th World Health Assembly, held in Geneva on 18-23 May 2026

The ICOH Secretary-General Dr Diana Gagliardi attended the World Health Assembly
from 18 to 23 May 2026 and delivered an ICOH statement.
The ICOH statement emphasized the role of occupational health as fundamental to public
health, social justice, sustainable development, and economic resilience.
With this statement, ICOH calls for renewed leadership of WHO in occupational health and
stands ready to support WHO in providing, protecting, and promoting health and work
ability through Universal Coverage of Occupational Health Services.

In addition, together with other Non-State Actors (NSAs), ICOH co-signed two
Constituency Statements under the Agenda Item 12.1 - Follow-up to the Political
Declaration on the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases:

the Constituency statement delivered by the International Society of Nephrology,
which recognises occupational risk factors among those linked to NCDs (e.g.
cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, kidney diseases, and chronic respiratory
conditions) and calls on Member States to scale up prevention and early detection
through primary care, public health, and occupational health interventions (Read the
statement here)

the Constituency statement delivered by the International Federation on Aging
which highlights the importance of embedding healthy ageing within global efforts to
prevent and control noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), calling for stronger
alignment between NCD strategies and systems for long-term care, dementia,
disability, gender, and social protection across the life course, alongside age-
inclusive targets, age-disaggregated data, and strengthened prevention, and
continuum of care (Read the statement here).