The five-person delegation, led by Rev. Dr Stavros Kofinas, moderator of the WCC Commission of the Churches on Health and Healing, pursued four core objectives: monitoring relevant plenary and committee sessions to track resolutions and decisions affecting the WCC’s health mandate; strengthening partnerships with global health actors, civil society networks, and faith-based organizations; cohosting side events that amplify the WCC’s advocacy positions; and gathering inputs to inform joint WCC commission and reference group meetings planned for October 2026. Kofinas reflected that the WCC’s participation was rewarding in that the WCC was able to create a dialogue with many that shared common concerns. “There was a general agreement that we need to define the meaning of health as it is related to the various cultures we live in, and to form a better understanding of how the health systems in these cultures shape the health care that is provided,” he said. “The WCC was in a very important space, facilitating the gathering of civil society, and we collaborated with various organizations,” said Dr Manoj Kurian, director of the WCC Commission of the Churches on Health and Healing. “Our leadership had an opportunity to meet and give input into these different processes.” The delegation engaged in 11 priority areas including the right to health, sustainable financing, equitable access to innovation, climate and health, conflict and displacement, reproductive health, aging and elder care, mental health, palliative care, pandemic preparedness, and decolonizing health systems. “There is a great deficit in the finances and also in trust in the global health situation, and it is critical that civil society and faith communities actually step up and mobilize the agency and the capacities of communities to respond — and to make health a reality,” said Kurian. “We have strengthened old relationships and developed new relationships.” The delegation also participated in and cohosted multiple events, including a session on civil society collaboration in health promotion, a webinar on digital health equity, a side event on economic policy and public health, and sessions addressing antimicrobial resistance and palliative care through an interfaith advocacy network. “One very significant step was also to develop new relationships with world organizations: the Unite Parliamentarians for Global Health, World Federation of Public Health Associations, Global Mental Health Network—so there were many, many new relationships that we developed,” said Kurian, who urged governments and policymakers to ensure that communities are meaningfully involved in envisioning and implementing mental health as an integral component of universal healthcare. “Civil society and faith communities are uniquely placed to mobilize the agency of societies to recover from today’s financial and trust deficits in mental health care,” he said, underscoring the importance of WCC contributing evidence-based perspectives to rights-grounded health policy. New interfaith network on palliative care The WCC is also involved in developing a new interfaith network on palliative care, along with the Catholic Church and other networks. A working session of the Interfaith Advocacy Network for Palliative Care marked the beginning of a shared effort to bring faith communities, palliative care practitioners, caregivers, advocates and partners closer together in service of people facing serious illness, pain, loss, and suffering. The foundation of this network lies in the interfaith HIV initiatives initiated and sustained by the WCC, with participants acknowledging the WCC’s extensive experience in this area. “At the heart of the conversation was the question: how can faith communities help ensure that palliative care is better understood, more widely accepted, and more fully recognized as an essential part of health, dignity, and universal health coverage?” explained Kurian. Palliative care is an essential response to the growing crisis of spiritual distress and the epidemic of loneliness affecting both adolescents and older persons. “Our faith calls us to provide active, holistic care across the life course, ensuring dignity at the end of life,” said Gracia Violeta Ross, WCC programme executive for HIV, Reproductive Health, and Pandemics. “Expanding access to palliative care is one way to address persistent inequalities in healthcare,” said Ross. She noted that religious leaders are uniquely positioned to help bridge this gap, particularly given that only 14% of the global population currently has access to palliative care. "The disparity is even more pronounced among children in need: 95% lack access to palliative care,” Ross said. “These include children living with serious and chronic conditions such as cancer, advanced HIV, congenital disorders, severe neurological conditions, organ failure, and genetic diseases.” While several frameworks and documents on palliative care already exist, implementation remains insufficient, she added. “The Interfaith Advocacy Network for Palliative Care aims to address this gap by connecting and equipping religious leaders to provide compassionate service grounded in a patient-centred approach,” said Ross. “This work is not about asserting beliefs, but about responding to the needs, dignity, and wellbeing of each individual.” Ecumenical Pharmaceutical Network The WCC also had substantive discussions with the Ecumenical Pharmaceutical Network, which comprises hundreds of health institutions. These discussions focused on pandemic preparedness, especially in the light of the ongoing Ebola situation. “We also looked at collaborating with the agencies across the board, using artificial intelligence and modern methodologies for developing early warning and response to support countries — and especially in the context of regions in the world where pandemics are breaking out in border areas,” said Dr Richard Neci Cizungu, executive director of the Ecumenical Pharmaceutical Network. “We, as faith communities, need to collaborate, because governments alone cannot solve these problems.” WCC will participate in 79th World Health Assembly WCC shares input at two gatherings for exploring equitable global health Side event to 79th World Health Assembly explores “Economics of Health For All—Taking Action” World Health Assembly side event focuses on bridging the antimicrobial resistance divide | 
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