Poland on Thursday suggested that it might be better to delay the approval of a new World Health Organization (WHO) pandemic accord, beyond the planned May 2024 deadline – so as to get to an “ambitious, clear and consistent” agreement. The Polish trial balloon seemed to break ranks with the drumbeat of recent statements by […] Continue reading ->
WHO Executive Board delegates on Thursday gave the green light to a draft proposal by Switzerland cementing the framework for a new WHO “Health for Peace” initiative. The move marked a bright spot in a day otherwise marked by heated debates over regional conflicts, including Gaza and Ukraine. The Health and Peace initiative was first […] Continue reading ->
Discussion about non-communicable diseases (NCDs) opened a Pandora’s Box of problems at the World Health Organization’s (WHO) executive board meeting on Wednesday. Not a single country is on track to achieve all nine voluntary global NCD targets for 2025, according to the Director-General’s report, which appealed to member countries for input on how they can […] Continue reading ->
World Health Organization’s (WHO) Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus lauded the success of tobacco control measures at the Wednesday evening session of the Executive Board meeting, but expressed concerns about the growing use of harmful products like e-cigarettes among youth. He urged member states, “to take swift action to counter this emerging threat” of children […] Continue reading ->
Universal Health Coverage Has Wide Support But is Undermined by Lack of Financing and Health Workers
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) executive board discussed ways to deliver Universal Health Coverage (UHC) on Wednesday, and while most member states expressed support for UHC, they highlighted bottlenecks of lack of finance and trained healthcare workers for being off track with its implementation. In its report to the board, the WHO estimated that over […] Continue reading ->
There is a global lack of preparedness and reactive responses when confronted with emerging epidemic threats, a concerning lack of investment in the R&D vaccine and therapeutics pipeline, and signs of waning focus on pandemic preparedness, according to a new report by the International Pandemic Preparedness Secretariat (IPPS). The IPPS launched its third annual report on […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) executive board confirmed the appointment of three new regional directors on Tuesday, which are both controversial and historic. The election of Saima Wazed, the daughter of Bangladesh’s prime minister, to lead the South-East Asia region has already been mired in allegations of nepotism. Tonga’s Dr Saia Ma’u Piukala steps into his […] Continue reading ->
Variation between the six regions of the World Health Organization (WHO) on how their regional directors are nominated – and whether these should be standardised – generated substantial discussion at the body’s executive board (EB) meeting on Tuesday. A report from the WHO’s legal counsel on regional nominations noted key areas where a lack of […] Continue reading ->
By hosting a high-level “investor round” to raise flexible funding for its operations, the World Health Organization (WHO) will address one of its “greatest overall risks, namely dependency on the very few number of donors”. This is according to Germany’s Björn Kümmel, chair of the WHO Working Group on Sustainable Financing, who told the WHO’s […] Continue reading ->
Misinformation, waning interest and entrenched positions threaten the World Health Organization’s (WHO) two pandemic-related negotiations aimed at strengthening future pandemic responses, according to a briefing given to the WHO executive board meeting on Monday. Draft agreements from the two processes – to establish a pandemic accord and to update the International Health Regulations (IHR) – […] Continue reading ->