EMERGENCY at the World Heart Summit and World Health Assembly 2025
Conflict and political instability are preventing millions from accessing care worldwide.
This week, EMERGENCY joined panel discussions and met with key stakeholders from civil society and international organisations at the World Heart Summit and 78th World Health Assembly to advocate for access to healthcare for all, especially in wartime.
From performing open heart surgery in the middle of war to supporting sustainable initiatives to improve healthcare infrastructure for the long term, read more about our recent activities below.
“The victims of war include people unable to access essential care.”
Globally, military spending is increasing while humanitarian aid, including healthcare funding, diminishes.
The toll of dead and injured in conflict fails to account for those who are suffering from the consequences of collapsing healthcare systems. Those with life-threatening chronic conditions like diabetes or heart disease struggle to access essential medications or attend follow-up appointments that could ensure their health does not deteriorate.
“The victims of war include people unable to access essential care: in Ukraine, Gaza and Sudan, we are witnessing the dire consequences of conflict on patients with chronic conditions and heart diseases, yet these people are rarely included in the tallies of victims. We must protect all healthcare, especially in war.”
EMERGENCY President Rossella Miccio, speaking at the World Heart Summit
EMERGENCY’s projects work to provide this essential care amid ongoing conflict, from our Community Health Workers in Ukraine moving door-to-door to support vulnerable communities to our satellite cardiology clinics in Sudan, set up in the middle of war.
Healthcare Includes Access to Quality Surgery
“Access to high quality surgical services is not a luxury, but an essential component of an effective health system. Above all, it is a basic human right of every individual, regardless of their country of origin.”
Alongside the launch of The Lancet’s ‘Health Policy Article on Global Surgery 2025-2035,’ Rossella Miccio shared EMERGENCY’s vision of global surgery – one that is more often accepted by local ministries of health than stakeholders in the Global North.
We continue to seek out and build strong partnerships that include local funding for quality surgical services and capacity building, a model that not only ensures access to essential care but also helps develop local infrastructure and healthcare work forces in a sustainable way.
However, war and political instability remain major obstacles for true long-term sustainability.
Spotlight on Sudan: Cardiac Surgery in Wartime
EMERGENCY has never stopped providing care in Sudan despite the ongoing war, even continuing to perform life-saving open heart surgeries at the Salam Centre for Cardiac Surgery in Khartoum. Many patients suffer from Rheumatic Heart Disease, a chronic condition endemic to sub-Saharan Africa.
“Over the past two years, patients have come to the hospital in person whenever possible—even after long and arduous journeys […]. And when they did—especially those awaiting surgery—they often arrived in critical condition, completely unaware of whether the hospital was still functioning.”
Manahel Bader, Head Nurse of the Salam Centre,
in the new report “Cardiac Surgery in Wartime”
After more than two years of active fighting, the consequences of war in Sudan continue to compound. It remains the world’s largest displacement crisis, including millions of children. The health system has almost completely collapsed.
In Khartoum, where the war first broke out, the Salam Centre for Cardiac Surgery remained open. While heart surgeries continued at a reduced capacity, the complex was first used to host a Trauma and Emergency Surgery Centre, then a Paediatric Outpatient Clinic, which continues to provide free healthcare to children and mothers every single day.
>>Cardiac Surgery in Wartime: Read EMERGENCY’s latest report
“EMERGENCY has been in Sudan for 20 years, throughout political turmoil, conflict and this latest devastating war. We must extend special thanks to our local colleagues in the country, without whom none of our efforts would be possible. They have continued to work tirelessly, despite personal experiences of loss and displacement, to keep our existing healthcare facilities running, particularly in Nyala and Khartoum, and even expanded our reach across the country with satellite cardiac clinics for displaced patients suffering from potentially life-threatening heart conditions.”
EMERGENCY President Rossella Miccio at the 78th World Health Assembly
