67th World Health Assembly underway in Geneva

The World Health Assembly, the world's health policy-making body, opened its Sixty-seventh session today with the election of Dr Roberto Tomas Morales Ojeda, Cuba’s Minister of Public Health, as its new President. 


Five vice-presidents were also appointed from Bahrain, Congo, Fiji, Lithuania, and Sri Lanka, representing their respective regions. 


More than 3000 delegates are expected to attend the Sixty-seventh World Health Assembly. Over the next 6 days, high-level representatives from WHO’s 194 Member States will discuss and make decisions on key global health issues, including:

• efforts to prevent and control noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, cancers and chronic lung disease;
• a new global strategy and targets to prevent and control tuberculosis;
• proposals to improve the health of patients with viral hepatitis;
• a draft action plan for newborn health;
• progress on WHO’s global strategy for maternal and young child nutrition;
• progress towards the Millennium Development Goals and the role of health on the post-2015 development agenda;
• ways to tackle antimicrobial drug resistance;
• efforts to improve access to essential medicines and strengthen the systems that regulate medicines;
• management of autism; and
• protecting more people from vaccine-preventable diseases.

Delegates will also review the progress the Organization is making on reform.
 
Yesterday’s meeting was opened by Dr Shigeru Omi of Japan, President of the Sixty-sixth World Health Assembly. 

The World Health Assembly is the decision-making body of WHO. It is attended by delegations from all WHO Member States and focuses on a specific health agenda prepared by the Executive Board. The main functions of the World Health Assembly are to determine the policies of the Organization, appoint the Director-General, supervise financial policies, and review and approve the proposed programme budget. The Health Assembly is held annually in Geneva, Switzerland.