Global Metabolic Health Roundtable Series 2026-2027

Duration

01/03/2026 - 30/09/2027

Coordinator

ISGlobal

1. Overview

The Global Metabolic Health Roundtable (GMHR) Series is a multi-stakeholder initiative that brings together policymakers, international organisations, researchers, healthcare professionals, civil society, and other relevant stakeholders to advance dialogue and action on metabolic and liver health.

Building on previous GMHR series activities, the 2027 edition will focus on Universal Health Coverage (UHC), with a particular emphasis on ensuring that liver health, including steatotic liver disease (SLD), is explicitly recognised within UHC.

The series will provide a platform for city, national, regional and global stakeholders to share experiences, discuss health-system priorities, identify opportunities for action, and contribute to the broader policy discussion leading up to the 2027 United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage.

“Universal Health Coverage should include liver health.”

The 2027 GMHR Series will bring together global, regional, national and city stakeholders to explore how liver health and steatotic liver disease can be better integrated into UHC frameworks, with attention to equity, financial protection, monitoring and accountability, and to build engagement towards the 2027 UNGA High-Level Meeting on UHC.

2. Universal Health Coverage and Liver Health - The 2027 Focus: 

The central message of the 2027 GMHR Series is: Liver health should be covered for all as a part of UHC, with SLD explicitly recognised within the UHC agenda.

The programme will explore how liver health and SLD specifically can be better integrated within UHC frameworks, including:

• Equity: considering populations and groups at higher risk of SLD and differences in access to prevention, diagnosis and care;
• Financial protection: considering the financial implications of accessing relevant healthcare services and the extent to which health systems provide financial protection:
• Health-system integration: considering how SLD can be integrated into broader health-system and NCD strategies:
• Monitoring and accountability: exploring how progress onSLD can be measured and monitored within existing health and UHC frameworks and what new indicators are needed.

The Series will bring together perspectives from organisations working across liver health, NCDs such as obesity, diabetes, UHC and health-system policy.

3. Four Regional Roundtables and two in-person events

The 2027 GMHR Series will comprise six events: four virtual regional roundtables between March and May 2027, followed by three in-person events at key global health policy moments. The four regional roundtables will take place ahead of the Global Think Tank on SLD flagship event on 10-11 May.

The four virtual regional roundtables will cover: 

• Europe
• Asia and the Pacific
• Latin America and the Caribbean
• Middle East and North Africa
   

The regional approach will allow participants to discuss UHC and liver health within different health-system and policy contexts, to share relevant regional experiences and approaches and consider joint advocacy approaches.

The four regional roundtables will then be followed by two in-person GMHR events at key global health policy moments: 

• World Health Assembly (May 2027 — Geneva)

• UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting on UHC (September 2027 — New York City)

• World Health Summit (WHS) — Berlin, October 2027

4. Monitoring, Indicators and Accountability

A major component of the 2027 GMHR Series will be to explore how progress on the WHA resolution on SLD can be monitored within broader health-system and UHC frameworks.

SLD is currently not monitored systematically in the same way as several other major NCDs and health priorities. The programme will therefore examine relevant multicountry monitoring initiatives and accountability mechanisms from areas including:

• Cardiovascular disease
• Diabetes
• Obesity
• NCDs more broadly
• Universal health coverage
• Viral hepatitis
• HIV

The purpose will be to identify lessons that could inform the development of an appropriate approach to monitoring SLD. 

If you’re interested in participating or would like to have more information about how to endorse the Series, then please contact publichealthliver@isglobal.org

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