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 ->
In a milestone decision at the 76th World Health Assembly (WHA76), a resolution aimed at addressing health challenges faced by indigenous peoples worldwide has been approved. With it, the Director-General of the WHO has been directed to develop a comprehensive global action plan dedicated to improving their health outcomes by 2026. Indigenous peoples, encompassing a […] 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 ->
On Saturday at the World Health Assembly, the World Health Organization (WHO) laid out the current realities of its digital health agenda as contained in the 2020-2025 global strategy on digital health. WHO member states see digital health as an important vehicle for accelerating progress towards WHO’s ‘triple billion’ targets of universal health coverage, health […] Continue reading ->
GENEVA – The global will to ensure that COVID-19 is a “never-again” pandemic is dissipating fast, according to many delegates attending the World Health Assembly (WHA) and its plethora of side events – threatening initiatives such as local manufacturing of vaccines. Jeremy Farrar, the newly appointed Chief Scientist at the World Health Organization (WHO), reminded […] Continue reading ->
Achieving universal health coverage by 2030, as resolved by the World Health Assembly this week, should ideally bring along with it a bouquet of possibilities through digital technologies.  Digital health technologies have improved the delivery of healthcare services by improving access to COVID-19 vaccination in Canada, and by improving access to breast and cervical cancer […] Continue reading ->
An impossibly long list of member states lined up to address universal health coverage (UHC) and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) at the World Health Assembly on Thursday afternoon, indicating the centrality of these issues for countries. There was near-universal support for primary health services to be the backbone of UHC, with disease prevention as the other […] 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 ->