Countries participating in this year’s World Health Assembly (WHA76) passed a groundbreaking resolution for the health of Indigenous Peoples. The resolution calls on the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) to develop a comprehensive Global Action Plan for the well-being of Indigenous Peoples and present it at the Seventy-ninth World Health Assembly in 2026. The resolution is a historic one, marking the first time the World Health Assembly has passed a resolution specifically addressing the health disparities faced by Indigenous communities worldwide.
With an estimated global population of 476.6 million, Indigenous Peoples are distributed across different geographical regions. The majority, 70.5%, reside in Asia and the Pacific, followed by Africa (16.3%), Latin America and the Caribbean (11.5%), Northern America (1.6%), and Europe and Central Asia (0.1%). Indigenous Peoples face significant health disparities, with lower life expectancy, higher prevalence of diseases like diabetes, maternal and infant mortality, and malnutrition, exacerbated by factors such as stigma, racism, limited access to quality healthcare, higher poverty levels, limited education, and political participation, as well as domestic and sexual violence. This results in poorer health outcomes for Indigenous Peoples compared to the general population.
The Global Action Plan will be co-created with Indigenous Peoples to ensure their free, prior, and informed consent, with consultative sessions scheduled to review emerging data and incorporate Indigenous perspectives. Because the Plan is being developed with the active involvement of Indigenous Peoples, it will ensure the inclusion of their perspectives in addressing the health disparities that affect them.
The immediate next steps toward building the Global Action Plan involve securing the necessary financial and human resources, engaging WHO regional offices and other United Nations agencies, and ensuring the meaningful participation of Indigenous Peoples from the outset.
The resolution also urges WHO to assist health authorities in the development of national plans for the promotion, protection and enhancement of the physical and mental health of Indigenous Peoples. “To address the health of indigenous peoples, it's necessary to understand the dynamics and contexts of each indigenous community,” said Ricardo Weibe Nascimento Costa, Brazil’s Vice-Minister for the Health of Indigenous Peoples. “Governments should develop health strategies and plans that ensure equitable and efficient access for Indigenous Peoples.”
Examples of proposed actions include monitoring health inequalities, enhancing research on Indigenous health with their consent, strengthening mechanisms for involving Indigenous Peoples in the design, implementation, and evaluation of health interventions, and providing training opportunities for health authorities while facilitating country-to-country exchanges.
Furthermore, the WHA decision emphasizes the importance of integrating a focus on Indigenous health into WHO's forthcoming General Programme of Work (GPW14). This integration is aligned with the Organization's commitment to gender equality, human rights and health equity. WHO supports national and local authorities in incorporating human rights, equity, gender-responsive, and intercultural approaches into public health policies. By doing so, WHO aims to ensure that all peoples, including Indigenous Peoples, have access to comprehensive, culturally appropriate, and high-quality health services and actions to address the social and environmental determinants of health. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has already taken significant steps in this direction through its pioneering a Strategy and Plan of Action on Ethnicity and Health 2019-2025. This initiative aligns with global commitments and addresses urgent health needs within Indigenous communities, including the reduction of maternal and infant mortality and the burden of tuberculosis.
By involving Indigenous Peoples in decision-making processes and advocating for the integration of Indigenous health considerations within global health initiatives and in national health-related policies, strategies, plans and programmes, countries are taking essential strides towards improving the well-being of Indigenous communities and achieving health equity for all, while upholding the commitments in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.