Health: WHO opens its World Assembly against the backdrop of multiple crises

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the WHO, during the first day of the 75th World Health Assembly at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, this Sunday, May 22, 2022. AP - SALVATORE DI NOLFI

Text by: RFI Follow

2 mins

Release of Covid, worrying spread of monkeypox, impact of the war in Ukraine and the search for funding.

It is an understatement to say that the subjects of conversation will not be lacking in Geneva, during the World Health Assembly, a sort of general assembly of the WHO.

It started this Sunday, May 22 and lasts all week.

An event as much health as political, from now on.

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With our correspondent in Geneva,

This is the first time that the Member States of the World Health Organization have met in person since 2020. Several heads of state have made the trip: the president of Kenya, that of Croatia...

Others spoke on video.

This is the case of Emmanuel Macron.

Everyone talked about the war in Ukraine.

But it was WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus who had the strongest words, drawing parallels between the current conflicts in Ukraine, Yemen and Ethiopia, and what he experienced as a child. in the latter country.

For me, war is not abstract.

It's very real and it's personal.

I am a child of war.

The sound of bullets, shells passing over your heads... War is bad enough as it is.

But it makes things even more terrible, because it allows disease to thrive.

War, hunger and disease are all allies.

LIVE: Opening of the 75th World Health Assembly, #WHA75 https://t.co/uUEp8ir6Bw

— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) May 22, 2022

It's not just Ukraine on WHO's agenda.

If the re-election of Dr. Tedros is acquired, the members will have to work on the financing, today far too dependent on the generosity of a few donors.

Reforming the global healthcare system will also be a big chunk.

Several avenues are mentioned: creation of a select committee ready to act quickly in the event of a new pandemic, improvement of international health regulations, development of vaccine capacities in southern countries, etc.

As cases of monkey pox multiply, the WHO recalls that the world is not done with Covid.

And that a billion people have still not received a single dose of vaccine.

►Read also: Chinese anti-Covid-19 vaccine Convidecia receives emergency approval from WHO

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