GENEVA, 23 May 2022, (TON): The Ukraine war looms large as the World Health Organization opens its main annual assembly, threatening to overshadow efforts on other health crises and a reform push aimed at preventing future pandemics.

The UN health agency will kick off its 75th World Health Assembly Sunday afternoon, convening its 194 member states for their first largely in-person gathering since Covid-19 surfaced in late 2019.

The agenda will remain focused on the continuing coronavirus crisis and efforts to avert future pandemics.

But the war raging in Ukraine and rebukes of Russia for its invasion are expected to take centre stage.

Kyiv and its allies will present a resolution during the assembly harshly condemning Russia’s invasion, and especially its more than 200 attacks on healthcare, including hospitals and ambulances, in Ukraine.

It is also to voice alarm at the health emergency in Ukraine, and highlight the dire impacts beyond its borders, including how disrupted grain exports are deepening a global food security crisis.

A European diplomat said “the Ukraine war is having a systemic impact on international organisations.”