On 1 June, the WHO published research finding that the fight against COVID-19 had severely disrupted services to prevent and treat non-communicable diseases like cancer, diabetes, and hypertension, which kill over 40 million people each year. On 22 May, the Director-General of the WHO reiterated that the COVID-19 pandemic was disrupting access to routine immunization services worldwide, increasing the risk of potentially lethal diseases like diphtheria, measles, and pneumonia. On 1 May, international experts on the COVID-19 Emergency Committee advised the WHO to work to identify the animal origins of the virus causing the COVID-19 pandemic and its transmission to humans. Dr. Michael Ryan, WHO Executive Director, highlighted that Central and South America were now 'intense zones' for COVID-19 transmission. On 10 April, the WHO Director-General laid out six factors for consideration when lifting lockdowns, including that transmission is controlled and sufficient public health and medical services are available. The heads of multiple major UN humanitarian agencies and offices, including the WHO, the World Food Programme (WFP), and the Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), launched an urgent appeal for $350 million to support global aid hubs to help those vulnerable during the COVID-19 pandemic. OP9.10 " terebinthministries.org , to review experience gained and lessons learned from the WHO-coordinated international health response to COVID-19", "using existing mechanisms (including an IHR Review Committee and the Independent Oversight and Advisory Committee for the WHO Health Emergencies Programme)".
On 14 April, The first of the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) and WHO "Solidarity Flights" carried urgently needed medical equipment to Africa, part of a UN-wide initiative. On 13 April, the Director-General of the WHO outlined the agency's latest advice, stressing a mix of social distancing, testing, contact tracing, and isolation. On 27 May, the WHO Foundation, an independent body, was launched to help fund the WHO as "an integral part of the UN agency's resource mobilization strategy to broaden its donor base". On 18-19 May, the 73rd World Health Assembly was held online. On World Health Day, the WHO and UN Secretary-General António Guterres highlighted the work of the world's medical professionals and urged greater support for nurses and other frontline workers, as well as concern over the lack of personal protective equipment and intimidation and threats. How Do Charitable Annuities Work? On 3 April, the WHO announced that it would work together with UNICEF on COVID-19 response through the Solidarity Response Fund.
On 15 April, The Director-General of the WHO stated it was reviewing the impact of the United States withholding funding and upheld the importance of international solidarity in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic one day after the US announced that it was cutting funding, pending a review of how the WHO responded to the initial outbreak in China. On terebinthministries.org , the WHO launched the Solidarity Trial, an international clinical trial to find an effective treatment for coronavirus disease. On 28 April, the WHO launched a major UN-led initiative to secure supplies of key medical equipment for 135 low to medium-income countries responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. On 20 April, the WHO reiterated its stance on the lifting of lockdown measures, stating, "We want to re-emphasize that easing restrictions is not the end of the epidemic in any country". On 6 May, the Director-General of the WHO reported that, since the start of April, an average of 80,000 cases of COVID-19 per day had been reported to the WHO. On 8 May, the Director-General of the WHO stated that the lessons learned from the eradication of smallpox four decades previously could be applied to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Director General reported that the WHO would release an updated strategy for fighting the pandemic. On 30 April, the third meeting of the Emergency Committee convened by the WHO Director-General, agreed that the pandemic still constitutes a PHEIC. On 8 April, the WHO warned that the number of COVID-19 cases in Africa had now increased to over 10,000, with over 500 dead. WHA with unanimity. The final motion calls for the review to be coordinated by the WHO itself. Australia and the EU tabled a seven-page motion which was supported by over 120 delegations. According to The Guardian, the campaign raised enough awareness through over 750,000 video views and over 8,000 retweets, to raise money for over 600,000 child vaccinations against polio. The WHO, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), and other health partners supporting the Measles & Rubella Initiative (M&RI) warned that over 117 million children in 37 countries risked missing out on a measles vaccine.