Historic WHO health assembly ends with global commitment to COVID-19 response
At the meeting of the 73rd World Health Assembly (WHA) —its first-ever to be held virtually—delegates adopted a landmark resolution to bring the world together to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a press release from the World Health Organization (WHO).
The resolution, co-sponsored by more than 130 countries, was adopted by consensus.
It calls for the intensification of efforts to control the pandemic, and for equitable access to and fair distribution of all essential health technologies and products to combat the virus. It also calls for an independent and comprehensive evaluation of the global response, including, but not limited to, the WHO’s performance.
As WHO convened ministers of health from almost every country in the world, the consistent message throughout the two-day meeting—including from the 14 heads of state participating in the opening and closing sessions —was that global unity is the most powerful tool to combat the outbreak. The resolution is a concrete manifestation of this call, and a roadmap for controlling the outbreak.
In his closing remarks, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said, “COVID-19 has robbed us of people we love. It has robbed us of lives and livelihoods; it has shaken the foundations of our world; it threatens to tear at the fabric of international cooperation. But it has also reminded us that for all our differences, we are one human race, and we are stronger together.”
The World Health Assembly will reconvene later in the year.
