Director-General’s Opening address to the 69th World Health Assembly

Dr. Margaret Chan’s opening address for the 69th World Health Assembly holding from the 23rd to the 28th of May 2016, in Geneva, called for celebration of the stunning health achievements to date, but warned that health challenges have grown far more numerous and complex.

The speech spanned across the various areas of focus of the WHO. As such, the global strategy on people-centred and integrated health services also featured:

“[…] Innovations help, but ambitious goals are feasible and affordable only if we cut out waste and inefficiency.

We do so through integrated, people-centred care that spans the life course, from pre-conception through ageing, and brings prevention to the fore. The target for universal health coverage moves us in that direction.

UHC is the target that underpins all others. It is the ultimate expression of fairness that leaves no one behind. It also has the best chance of meetings people ...

Sixty-ninth World Health Assembly (WHA69)

The sixty-ninth World Health Assembly (WHA) takes place in Geneva from the 23rd to the 28th of May, that 3500 delegates from WHO’s 194 Member States – including a large proportion of the world’s health ministers - are attending.

It began with a a discussion on WHO reform and a general plenary discussion about “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”. Over the next days, delegates will discuss a wide range of agenda items, including decisions relating to WHO’s response to health emergencies and the International Health Regulations, noncommunicable diseases and factors that can put people at risk of these diseases – or reduce their level of risk. Important decisions will be made relating to childhood obesity and maternal, child and young child nutrition, as well as air pollution, tobacco control, violence and road safety.

As part of the global drive to support and strengthen health systems, delegates ...

Sixty-ninth World Health Assembly (WHA69)

The sixty-ninth World Health Assembly (WHA69) will take place in Geneva from 23-28 May 2016. The Health Assembly is the supreme decision-making body of WHO. It is attended by delegations from all WHO Member States and its main functions are to determine the policies of the Organization, supervise financial policies, and review and approve the proposed programe budget. The Health Assembly is held annually in Geneva, Switzerland.

The topics that will be covered this year are: Responding to health emergencies, Violence Women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health, Ageing and health, Maternal, infant and young child nutrition, Childhood obesity, Noncommunicable diseases, 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Health effects of air pollution, Antimicrobial resistance, Poliomyelitis, Health of migrants, Global shortage of medicines, Safety and accessibility of children’s medication, Communicable diseases.

For the full speech see link below. For the news release: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2016/sixty-ninth-world-health-assembly-opens ...

Operational Framework for Primary Health Care

The World Health Assembly in resolution WHA72.2 (2019) requests the Director-General inter alia “to develop, in consultation with, and with the involvement of more expertise from, Member States, and in time for consideration by the Seventy-third World Health Assembly, an operational framework for primary health care, to be taken fully into account in the WHO general programmes of work and programme budgets in order to strengthen health systems and support countries in scaling-up national implementation efforts on primary health care”. This operational framework builds on an initial draft that was prepared as part of a technical series to support the Global Conference on Primary Health Care (Astana, 25 and 26 October 2018). It was then revised following expert review, public consultation, civil society consultation, key informant interviews and consultations with Member States.

This operational framework, the related Vision for primary health care in the 21st Century, and associated technical ...