On 18 May 2026, the Global Surgery Foundation returned to the World Health Assembly with What's Next for Philanthropy: Investing in Local Leaders for Impact, a WHA79 side-event at the Hôtel InterContinental in Geneva and online. Watch the recording and download the report.

At the upcoming Clinton Global Initiative 2025 Meeting in New York, the Global Surgery Foundation will announce a new Commitment to Action focused on expanding access to safe caesarean section and maternal surgical care in low-resource settings. This builds on a recently launched SURGfund-supported project in Kenya, aiming to reach over 25,000 mothers and newborns each year.

Surgery saves lives—but for billions, it’s still out of reach. At this year’s World Health Assembly, that reality took centre stage. With new catalytic investments into SURGfund, the days of treating surgical care as a side note in global health are over. It’s now a frontline strategy to strengthen systems, save lives, and deliver on the promise of universal health coverage.

In Nepal, too many mothers still die giving life. Dr. Saroja Pande and the Nepal Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (NESOG) are working to change that.

As the global health community prepares for the 78th World Health Assembly (WHA78) in 2025, the Global Surgery Foundation (GSF) is curating a comprehensive and up-to-date list of WHA78 side events. 

On 19 May 2025, the Global Surgery Foundation brought global leaders together at the Hôtel InterContinental in Geneva and online for its WHA78 side-event, Accelerating Catalytic Financing in a New Era, where donors announced new commitments to SURGfund. Watch the recording and download the report.

As part of our Voices in Global Surgery series, we spoke with patients, frontline workers, and advocates in women’s cancers.

The GSF’s Women’s Health team shared updates from projects aimed at improving access to surgical care for breast cancer patients in Rwanda and Türkiye.

Navigating the Global Surgery Ecosystem, the educational series from the Global Surgery Foundation and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), is now available as a free course on SURGhub. Learn at your own pace with recorded sessions and curated readings, and earn a UNITAR Certificate of Completion.

As the first of our new series “Voices in Global Surgery”, this article takes a look behind the scenes of surgical care.

We spoke with cancer survivors from seven countries to learn how their expertise can inform global cancer control programming.

EBRS, UNITAR, CAGS, and the Global Surgery Foundation hosted a special online event entitled “Quality Improvement Interventions to Reduce Anastomotic Leaks.”, on 3 December 2024 at 16:00 CET/ 10:00 AM EDT/ 07:00 AM PDT.

The project team successfully completed the inclusion period and launched a pilot study in April, which implements a collaborative treatment model involving traditional bonesetters and hospital referrals for surgical treatment when necessary, ensuring adequate pain relief and X-ray diagnostics for all fracture patients

The GSF side-event at WHA77 convened a diverse array of global health leaders, representing UN member states, United Nations bodies, philanthropy, academia, civil society, and industry. The event report is now available.

The special WHA77 GSF side-event took place on 27 May 2024 at the Hôtel InterContinental.

The Global Surgery Foundation, UNITAR, and Takeda hosted an online event discussing Value-Based Healthcare Implementation.

The Global Surgery Foundation, UNITAR, and 2nd Chance Association hosted an online event discussing the role of reconstructive surgery in humanitarian responses to post-conflict and disaster emergencies.

The Global Surgery Foundation (GSF) officially announced SURGfund at its 76th World Health Assembly side event on 23 May 2023 in Geneva, Switzerland.

Moving Dialogue to Implementation. The Global Surgery Foundation invites you a special World Health Assembly (WHA) side event on 23 May 2023.

Fiji's Minister of Health, Dr. Ifereimi Waqainabete, addressed the World Health Assembly audience with a powerful message: the investment case for surgical systems strengthening is a done deal. It needs to happen.

The Global Surgery Foundation (GSF) has announced that it will be hosting a special side event at the 76th World Health Assembly.