GENEVA – Conservative countries have objected to the use of the terms “gender responsive” and “advancing gender mainstreaming” in behind-the-scenes negotiations on several resolutions before the World Health Assembly (WHA), according to a wide variety of sources. There have also been some objections to the use of “gender equality” and “sexual” in some instances – […] Continue reading ->
GENEVA — As the 77th World Health Assembly (WHA) opened on Monday, global leaders pressed World Health Organization (WHO) member states to conclude a pandemic agreement, despite failing to meet the original deadline for reaching a consensus. The WHA, a week-long gathering that sets the agenda for the WHO, was initially expected to mark the […] Continue reading ->
GENEVA — Six of the ten leading risk factors for premature deaths and years of healthy life lost due to disability are within an individual’s control, according to new data from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021. The study, the most comprehensive effort to quantify health loss worldwide to date, aims to identify and […] Continue reading ->
Although a draft pandemic agreement may take weeks or months longer to conclude, there are moves underfoot to try to quickly wrap up negotiations and get final member state sign-off on amendments to the 2005-era WHO International Health Regulations (IHR) at the this week’s World Health Assembly (WHA), said the co-chair of the working group […] Continue reading ->
A last ditch effort of WHO member states to finish negotiations on a pandemic accord has failed to yield agreement ahead of next week’s World Health Assembly (WHA) – with key articles in the draft text still unresolved including the thorny formula for global sharing of vaccines and medicines during international health emergencies. As of […] Continue reading ->
Senior WHO officials sounded a cautiously optimistic note Tuesday about the prospects for WHO member states to somehow wrap up down-to-the-wire negotiations on a landmark Pandemic Accord in time to submit a final agreement to the World Health Assembly, which begins next Monday, 27 May. Meanwhile, they heralded the milestone agreement “in principle” to amend […] Continue reading ->