WHO Unveils PREVENT Package to Combat Lead Poisoning

On the margins of the 79th World Health Assembly, the World Health Organization (WHO) offered a first look at its forthcoming PREVENT Technical Package on Lead Poisoning Prevention and invited Member States and other stakeholders to provide inputs as the full package is developed in the coming year. At an event co-organized with Bloomberg Philanthropies and Resolve to Save Lives, the overview module -- published as a discussion paper -- sparked dialogue between national and global health leaders about the urgency of lead poisoning prevention and the way forward.

Lead poisoning is responsible for an estimated 3.5 million cardiovascular-related deaths each yearⁱ and affects up to 815 million children—one in three globally—resulting in lowered cognitive functioning, educational attainment, and lifetime income. Workers in the lead industry, pregnant women and children are the most at-risk, with the burden falling disproportionately on people living in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where 90% of deaths linked to lead poisoning occur.

Despite progress in removing lead from petrol and paint, it remains present in many common household items such as cosmetics, cookware, and spices. There is no safe level of exposure; even low levels of exposure over time can cause irreversible harm with devastating health, environmental, and economic costs.

What the PREVENT technical package will cover

The overview module introduces the full technical package, scheduled to be launched in 2027 alongside a draft Global Action Plan on Lead Mitigation as requested by Member States . When fully released, the PREVENT Technical Package on Lead Poisoning Prevention will include practical implementation guidance for countries across six key actions, with a focus on both the industrial and consumer sectors:

1. Prioritize sources and measure exposures
2. Respond to elevated blood lead and address ongoing exposures
3. Engage partners, private sector, and the public to increase and sustain momentum
4. Verify that regulations align with best practices to protect health
5. Enforce regulations to ensure compliance
6. Track progress: evaluate implementation and impact on exposure

From evidence into action: Country experiences and global partnerships

The event to discuss the overview module featured health ministers and senior officials from Brazil, Georgia, and Ghana who described how their governments moved from recognizing lead poisoning as a problem to mobilizing policy responses and funding. Their insights underscored the importance of cross-sector collaboration and political will to drive systemic change. Representatives highlighted key lessons: the need for reliable data to galvanize action; the value of engaging multiple ministries, including environment, trade and finance; and the importance of community-level communication to address an often-invisible hazard.

Event co-organizers—WHO, Bloomberg Philanthropies and Resolve to Save Lives — reinforced the message that the time to act on lead poisoning prevention is now. Both WHO Director-General Dr Tedros (in a prerecorded video message) and Dr Ruediger Krech, Director for Environment, Climate Change, Migration and One Health (a.i.) at WHO, emphasized commitment from the World Health Organization to the issue and held up the forthcoming technical package as a way forward for countries. Dr Tom Frieden, President and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives, called on countries to use the technical package to move from commitment to action, and Apala Guhathakurta, a member of the Public Health team at Bloomberg Philanthropies, underscored the importance of public-private partnerships to catalyze change.

Next steps

Ahead of the 2027 release of the PREVENT technical package, WHO will organize a series of consultations with Member States, WHO regional offices, and technical partners. Countries and relevant stakeholders are invited to review the overview module discussion pape r and to begin identifying and addressing sources of lead exposure in high-risk populations in parallel with the package development.