During the 75th session, which unlike the previous two, delegates will elect the Director-General of the World Health Organization. Participants are also expected to adopt a resolution on health in conflict situations. The slogan of the session is “Health for Peace, Peace for Health.
The world needs an effective WHO
During the high-level segment the previous day, UN Secretary-General António Guterres, the WHO director general, and heads of state, including French President Emmanuel Macron, addressed the session.
“The pandemic demonstrated why the world needs the WHO, but also why the world needs a more effective WHO, with more authority and sustainable funding. I welcome the recommendation of the Sustainable Financing Working Group to increase mandatory contributions to 50 percent of the base budget over the next decade,” said WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Gebreyesus at the opening of the Assembly.
“We still face many challenges, and we must decide exactly where we are now. The pandemic is far from over. And as we continue to fight it, we face the challenge of rebuilding public health, as 90 percent of member states report disruption of one or more essential health services,” he added.
Address by the First Lady of Ukraine
Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenskaya, addressed the Assembly plenary on Monday. She called on the WHO to help address the country’s mental health crisis, warning that the effects of the war with Russia could be felt for decades.
“The war unleashed by Russia has shown us horrors we could not even imagine,” the first lady of Ukraine said. – The WHO has committed itself to protecting the most important human rights – the rights to health and life. Both of these rights are now being violated in Ukraine. Not a single Ukrainian – neither a child nor an adult – is sure that tomorrow he or she will just wake up, that a missile will not hit the house where that person lives. Doctors are not sure that ambulances will not be bombed on their way to patients.”
Zelenska called on the WHO and the international community to help Ukraine with mental health recovery for survivors of the war. “After what Ukrainians experienced during the occupation, at the front, in bomb shelters, under bombing, abroad … they need rehabilitation just as much as those who were physically injured,” Zelenska said.
Responding to emergencies
The Health Assembly will discuss global strategies for food safety, oral health and tuberculosis research and innovation. The session will also discuss the report of the WHO Sustainable Finance Working Group.
Strengthening WHO’s preparedness and response to health emergencies, prevention of sexual exploitation, violence and harassment, polio control and the global Health for Peace initiative are also on the agenda.
The Health Assembly is WHO’s highest decision-making body, setting policy for the organization and approving its budget. Delegations from all of WHO’s 194 member states participate in WHA.