Thirty countries signed a political declaration at an international meeting in Morocco last week calling for the health of refugees and migrants to be included in national health systems and universal health coverage. A total of 50 UN member and observer states attended the talks. The Rabat Declaration, signed on Friday, is the first official […] Continue reading ->
At the end of this week’s negotiation on the pandemic accord, Roland Driece, co-chair of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) charged with drafting a pandemic accord, told the final plenary on Friday that “it’s not easy” – a phrase that he repeated four times in the space of minutes. To ease difficulties, the INB piloted […] Continue reading ->
Member states have been given nine days to comment on the ‘Zero draft of the Political Declaration on Pandemic Preparedness and Response, due to be adopted at the United Nations (UN) High-Level Meeting (HLM) on 20 September – with insiders describing the draft as “underwhelming”. The HLM is essential for boosting waning political commitment to […] Continue reading ->
In one of its last decisions before concluding, the World Health Assembly Tuesday asked WHO’s Director General to continue developing a draft roadmap for WHO’s new  Global Health and Peace initiative – but stopped short of adopting the proposed plan after some member states balked over elements of the strategy. Instead the Assembly agreed to […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Assembly has re-elected India to serve as WHO’s external auditor for the next four years – but there was a steep price tag attached to this year’s appointment. WHO will pay nearly $1 million for India’s services over the coming three-year term of 2024-2027  – amounting to US$ 2.268 million, according to […] Continue reading ->
 GENEVA – Global health conversations are much deeper at present because everyone has been affected by COVID-19 – and this opens up the possibility of building an “all-of-society” approach before the next pandemic, said Sylvie Brand, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Director of Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness and Prevention. “We have seen during this pandemic […] Continue reading ->