Bangladesh, May 19 -- As the 78th World Health Assembly convenes in Geneva, it does so against a backdrop of profound change in the global health landscape. For decades, Western powers – particularly the United States and the European Union – have played the dominant role in shaping global health policy, funding key programs, and driving multilateral efforts through institutions like the World Health Organization (WHO). But that era of Western primacy is drawing to a close.

Amid political retreat and funding cuts from traditional donors, most notably the US under a returning Trump administration, a new group of actors is stepping into the vacuum. Chief among them: the nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Once periph...