After a total of 12.5 hours of consultations in five informal meetings, a bloc of countries led by Thailand won WHO Executive Board approval for a landmark decision to develop a new ten year-action plan to reduce the harmful use of alcohol. Representatives of Norway and the European Union joined as co-sponsors in a compromise […] Continue reading ->
As the number of novel coronavirus infections rose again on Thursday – to 28,060 confirmed cases in China and 225 abroad – a US Centers for Disease Control official raised the possible spectre that the epidemic could become a global “pandemic” – if countries fail to take assertive action now. “While unclear how the situation […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization Executive Board unanimously adopted two decisions that began to set the stage for global vaccine policy in the next decade – a draft resolution on “strengthening global immunization efforts to leave no one behind” and another on “eliminating meningitis by 2030,” after reviewing a report prepared by the Director-General on lessons […] Continue reading ->
The elements are all in place for expanding universal health coverage – what’s missing is more action at the country level, World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the WHO Executive Board on Wednesday. “All the political work is actually done now,” Dr. Tedros said. He was reporting on WHO action since the […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization’s Executive Board tackled two big issues today – primary health care, a cornerstone of WHO’s Universal Health Coverage platform, and cancer, the world’s second leading cause of premature deaths. In a comprehensive report released on World Cancer Day, WHO outlined an action plan that could save 7 million lives from cancer […] Continue reading ->
World Health Organization Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for “solidarity, solidarity and solidarity” amongst WHO member states to meet the new challenge of a novel coronavirus epidemic – at Monday’s opening of a week-long meeting of WHO’s Executive Board in Geneva. “The rule of the game is solidarity, solidarity, solidarity. But we see […] Continue reading ->
This week’s Executive Board meeting features a heavy agenda of topics, including a review of progress in WHO’s flagship Universal Health Coverage (UHC) initiative; steps taken to confront the burgeoning coronavirus health emergency; and review of a first-ever WHO strategy to eliminate cervical cancer. Debates over the long-term challenges posed by drug resistant pathogens and […] Continue reading ->
Ahead of the upcoming WHO Executive Board meeting 3-8 February, WHO has launched a series of informal consultations this week with member state representatives on key issues that will be coming before the governing body – and ultimately the May meeting of the World Health Assembly (WHA). The detailed consultation agenda, published on the WHO […] Continue reading ->