64th World Health Assembly (WHA)
Resolutions and reports
Resolution: Youth and health risks resolution adopted
The report by the Secretariat on Youth and Health Risks and the resolution proposed by Tunisia (and co-sponsored by Finland and Hungary) received overwhelming support from over 30 countries from all regions. The resolution was adopted. It calls on Member States to step up their efforts on youth health and consider this important population group in all their policies within and beyond the health sector. The Secretariat is expected to provide quality technical support and leadership and to ensure that the health of adolescents and young people is coherently addressed across the work of the Organization in the next medium-term strategic plan. http://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/WHA64/A64_25-en.pdf
Resolution: Working towards the reduction of perinatal and neonatal mortality
A resolution on "Working towards the reduction of perinatal and neonatal mortality" was adopted. It urges Member States to further advance perinatal and neonatal care as a priority and develop plans to increase access to cost-effective interventions - in the context of existing national, regional and global plans around the continuum of care for maternal, newborn and child health.
Plans and strategies
Global Immunization Vision and Strategy: Increased investments in immunization needed to reach global goals
In a great show of support, many delegates and global health partners in Committee A spoke in favour of the Global Immunization Vision and Strategy and its impact in guiding national immunization strategies to reach child survival goals. Delegates applauded strides in saving lives around the world through vaccines, noting key challenges such as: ensuring a balanced approach towards competing priorities such as strengthening immunization systems, introducing new vaccines and eradicating polio; preventing a resurgence of measles through high vaccination coverage; and facilitating vaccine technology transfer to developing countries.
Decade of Vaccines
Addressing the Assembly, philanthropist Bill Gates announced his commitment, with the World Health Organization, to a “Decade of Vaccines”. Find more details on the right in the speech from Mr Gates and Director General Dr Margaret Chan.
Implementation plan: Maternal, infant and young child nutrition
More than 100 million children under five were underweight in 2010. Additionally, more women are becoming overweight, increasing the risk of birth complications. Delegates in Committee B discussed a progress report on a plan to tackle problems of poor nutrition through awareness campaigns and policies involving health, education and agriculture.
Progress report- Committee A : Working towards universal coverage of maternal, newborn and child health interventions
Committee A noted the progress report. While maternal and child mortality have declined globally by about a third since 1990, overall progress is insufficient. The lowest annual rates of decline are in the African and Eastern Mediterranean region. Coverage of effective interventions for reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health has remained uneven and is low for those interventions that cannot be scheduled. Quality of services remains a concern in many settings, leading to gaps in the continuum of care. National data on coverage levels often hide important disparities among population subgroups. Furthermore, too few countries have adopted recent evidence-based policies to increase access to essential reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health interventions.
Progress report: Female genital mutilation
Committee A noted the progress report: the Secretariat supported studies in several countries on the practice of female genital mutilation. As at November 2010, laws criminalizing the practice of female genital mutilation exist in 20 African countries. Four countries in Africa launched national plans of action against the practice of female genital mutilation. Intersectoral collaboration has increased.
Progress report: WHO Gender Strategy
WHO reported on the mid-term progress on the implementation of the WHO Gender Strategy (resolution WHA60.25). What are the results in a nutshell? While WHO has implemented a far-reaching gender mainstreaming programme with currently 120 gender focal points worldwide, the impact on day-to-day work has been limited. Currently no targets for gender mainstreaming are in place in WHO. Hence, on behalf of the European Union, and in the context of WHO reform, The Netherlands called for the establishment of a strong accountability mechanism to help focus and drive expected results and performance across the Organization. http://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/WHA64/A64_26-en.pdf