Tribune News Network
Doha
Qatar will participate in the 77th World Health Assembly to be held in Geneva, Switzerland, from May 27 to June 1, along with its accompanying meetings and events. Additionally, Qatar will attend the 155th session of the WHO Executive Board on June 3 and 4.
Qatar’s delegation to the assembly is headed by Minister of Public Health and Chair of the Executive Board of the World Health Organisation HE Dr Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari.
This year’s World Health Assembly is held under the theme ‘All for Health, Health for All’. The Health Assembly will review several important topics, most notably health conditions within the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem and the occupied Syrian Golan, as well as the Executive Board’s report on its 153rd and 154th sessions.
The meetings will also discuss several important topics under the WHO’s four pillars. The target of the pillars are ‘One billion more people benefiting from universal health coverage’, ‘One billion more people better protected from health emergencies’, ‘One billion more people enjoying better health and well-being’, and ‘More effective and efficient WHO providing better support to countries’.
Under the first pillar of the WHO, the Assembly will review several topics considered by the organisation’s Executive Board, such as universal health coverage (UHC), the ‘Draft global action plan for infection prevention and control’, the ‘Immunisation Agenda 2030’ (IA2030), ‘The End TB Strategy’, ‘Road map for neglected tropical diseases 2021–2030’, ‘Acceleration towards the Sustainable Development Goal targets for maternal health and child mortality’, antimicrobial resistance, and ‘The global health sector strategies on, respectively, HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections’. The meetings will also discuss ‘Global technical strategy and targets for malaria 2016–2030’.
Under the second pillar of the WHO, topics of the meeting will include public health emergency preparedness and response and a ‘review of and update on matters considered by the Executive Board’, such as the ‘WHO’s work in health emergencies’, the ‘Global Health and Peace Initiative’, and the eradication of polio and smallpox.
Under the third pillar, the discussions will cover ‘Social determinants of health’, ‘Maternal, infant and young child nutrition’, ‘Well-being and health promotion’, ‘climate change, pollution and health’, and ‘Economics and health for all’, as well as the ‘WHO global strategy for food safety’.
Under the fourth pillar, the meetings will review topics including ‘Budget and finance matters’ and ‘Management, legal and governance matters’.
Qatar will also be sponsoring an event that accompanies the World Health Assembly meetings on ‘The Global Action Plan for Healthy Lives and Well-being for All’ (SDG3 GAP), which will be held on May 29. The event is aimed at supporting the achievement of health-related sustainable development goals. This high-level event also provides an important opportunity to review progress, challenges, and the future of the drive, with an emphasis on the importance of multi-agency cooperation in health, development, and humanitarian issues.
Additionally, the Qatari delegation will participate in various other meetings and events accompanying the meetings of the World Health Assembly, the most prominent of which is a ministerial session for the Eastern Mediterranean Region, the World Heart Summit, the WHO-organised event ‘All for Health, Health for All: Celebratory launch of WHO’s Investment Round’, and the strategic roundtable discussion ‘Artificial intelligence for health: opportunities, risks, and governance’.
Qatar will also attend the WHO Executive Board meetings on June 3 and 4 in Geneva. The meetings will address several key topics, most notably the outcomes of the 77th World Health Assembly, the election of the president, vice-presidents, and rapporteur, reports from the Programme, Budget and Administration Committee (PBAC), and the Standing Committee on Health Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response (SCHEPPR), as well as matters raised under the fourth pillar of the WHO, ‘More effective and efficient WHO providing better support to countries’.
