By OSWALD T. BROWN
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 25, 2024 – Dr. Michael Darville, Minister of Health in The Bahamas, and a Bahamian delegation are among thousands of government officials, global health experts, and advocates from around the world currently in Geneva for the World Health Assembly that is described as “the preeminent health gathering of the year.”
“Between May 27 and June 1, ministers of health and other decision-makers from all 194 Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) will gather for the 77th World Health Assembly, the annual meeting of the WHO’s decision-making body,” the United Nations Foundation notes on its website. “A range of global health issues will be discussed at WHA77: defeating polio, malaria, HIV, and other diseases; increasing access to universal health coverage and immunization; countering growing antimicrobial resistance; and ensuring better maternal and reproductive health outcomes.”
“On top of this already-packed agenda,” website says, “deadlines for negotiations on multiple international agreements are fast approaching, which is ratcheting up the stakes for this year’s Assembly.”
The website adds, “All eyes are on Member States that are tasked with reaching legally binding agreements on how they will work together to prevent and better respond to future pandemics. WHO officials will also present plans for its program of work for the next four years and launch a call for countries to fund that work through a new financing mechanism.
“But while WHO is calling for more reliable and flexible funding, Member States are asking the global body to meet their expectations through new accountability structures. Some of these expectations include greater representation of historically marginalized groups, including women, within the agency. And all of this must be addressed against the backdrop of major crises that are directly affecting people’s health, livelihoods, and survival.”
NOTE: Oswald T. Brown is Press Attaché at the Bahamas Embassy in Washington, D.C. He is also Editor of BAHAMAS CHRONICLE, a Washington, D.C. – based online publication that has a huge following among Bahamians in the diaspora across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom as well as in The Bahamas and the wider Caribbean.
