WHO Regional Committee for the Western Pacific opens its seventy-seventh session with plans on hypertension, tobacco, immunization and AI

19 October 2026

The seventy-seventh session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Western Pacific opened on 19 October 2026 and runs to 22 October. The Committee is to consider four draft plans for endorsement: a regional plan for accelerating hypertension control, an action plan on tobacco control towards the 2030 target, a regional plan to accelerate immunization progress focused on zero-dose children and measles elimination, and guidance for responsible artificial intelligence in health with three operational frameworks. The Region has 2.2 billion people, about a quarter of the global population. Roughly 430 million people in the Region have hypertension and tobacco use causes about 3 million deaths a year there. Dr Saia Ma'u Piukala, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific, said the agenda is both ambitious and urgent.