Parliamentarians from Germany visited WHO headquarters to learn more about WHO’s work and strengthen their collaboration on shared global health priorities.
Ms Heike Baehrens, Chair of the first Global Health Sub-Committee in the German Bundestag, led the delegation. The delegation discussed areas of interest for both Germany and WHO, including antimicrobial resistance, polio eradication, neglected tropical diseases and snakebite envenoming and health emergencies
“Parliamentarian groups like this are vital partners and advocates for health,” said Dr Tedros. “They play a key role in moving the global health agenda forward through their functions of legislation, advocacy, accountability and budget allocation.”
Germany is the first country to have created a formal Sub-Committee on Global Health within the Parliament and has championed global health through the G20. It has increased its contribution to WHO and supports WHO as member of the Executive Board.
WHO recognizes Germany for its leadership in global health and is committed to strengthening its engagement with Parliaments, which play an important role in moving the global health agenda forward. Parliamentarians are essential to achieving global health goals because of their ability to enact legislation, harmonize existing law, create an enabling legislative environment and eliminate legal barriers to accessing healthcare. They have the responsibility and authority to keep governments accountable for the commitments they make.
Left to right: Rudolf Henke, Member of Federal Parliament; Dr Soumya Swaminathan WHO Deputy Director-General for Programmes; Professor Dr Andrew Ullmann, Member of Federal Parliament; Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General; Heike Baehrens, Member of Federal Parliament; Dr Georg Kippels, Member of Federal Parliament; Sylvia Gabelmann, Member of Federal Parliament; Gaudenz Silberschmidt, WHO Director for Partnerships and Non-State Actors; Hans-Peter Jugel, Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative, German Permanent Mission; Paul V Podolay, Member of Federal Parliament; Ambassador Michèle Boccoz, WHO Assistant Director-General for External Relations; Dr Bernhard Schwartländer, WHO Chef de Cabinet; Elisa Scolaro, WHO External Relations Officer; Bernard Dizier, WHO Technical Officer; Hendrik Schmitz Guinote, WHO Technical Officer; Corinna Hülnhagen, First Secretary of Health Affairs, German Permanent Mission; Nicole Krueger, WHO Executive Officer; Sabine Stuppert, Committee Secretariat.