World Health Assembly

1. World Health Assembly

Name:- Dhamot Divyeshkumar
Subject:- Medical Law
Group no:- 17LL4(a)

2. World Health Assembly

The World Health Assembly (WHA) is the forum through which the World
Health Organization (WHO) is governed by its 194 member states. It is the
world's highest health policy setting body and is composed of health
ministers from member states.
The members of the WHA generally meet every year in May in Geneva at
the Palace of Nations, the location of WHO Headquarters. The main tasks of
the WHA are to decide major policy questions, as well as to approve the WHO
work programme and budget and elect its Director-General.

3. Brief History

The basic procedures, goals and objectives of the World Health Assembly have
been the same since the Organization was founded, but the first health
Assembly in 1948 was, in many ways, unique and different from all others.
The first World Health Assembly (WHA) was convened, barely two months
after WHO was born, at a time when the organization did not have a
headquarters

4. Brief History

The Interim Commission of WHO was formed in Geneva in 1946 to chart the roadmap
for the future Organization and draft its Constitution and other core documents. After
WHO was born on 7 April 1948, the Interim Commission set 24 June as the date for
convening the first Health Assembly and selected Geneva as its venue.
The original membership of the WHA, at the first assembly held in 1948, numbered 55
member states.

5. Goal

The World Health Assembly (WHA) is the decision-making body of the World Health Organization
(WHO). It brings together delegations from all WHO Member States and focuses on a specific health
agenda prepared by the Executive Board. The main functions of the WHA are to determine the
policies of the WHO, appoint the Director-General, supervise financial policies, and review and
approve the proposed programme budget.
To determine policies of the organization
To appoint Director-General of WHO
To supervise financial policies
To review and approve proposed budget of the programs

6. Structure

The WHA takes place every year in the month of May at the United Nations in
Geneva, Switzerland. It is attended by delegations from all 194 WHO Member
States. Every year WHA comes up with new health resolutions.
Until now (June 2019), WHA is held up 72 times with challenging resolutions.
The 72nd WHA was held on 20-28th May, 2019.
Two main types of the meeting held in WHA each with a different purpose:
Committees meet to debate technical and health matters (Committee A), and
financial and management issues (Committee B) and approve the texts of
resolutions, which are then submitted to the plenary meeting.
Plenary is the meeting of all delegates to the World Health Assembly.

7. The World Health Assembly meets in the assembly hall of the Palace of Nations, in Geneva (Switzerland).

The World Health Assembly meets in the assembly hall
of the Palace of Nations, in Geneva (Switzerland).

8. Countries

The original membership of the WHA, at the first assembly held in 1948, numbered 55 member
states. The WHA has, currently, 194 member states.
In addition, six agencies have observer status at the WHA – the Vatican, the Palestinian Authority,
the Order of Malta, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Federation of
Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

9. Countries

The Department of Health of the Republic of China, commonly known as Taiwan, was
invited on 28 April 2009 to participate in the WHA 2009 as an observer for the first
time since losing its China seat in United Nations to People's Republic of China in
1971. The invitation was extended to "the Department of Health, Chinese Taipei Since
2017, it has been completely excluded from the WHA.
India was a founding member of the United Nations, joining in 12 October 1945, two
years before acquiring independence from the British Raj. By 1946, India had started
raising concerns regarding colonialism, apartheid and racial discrimination.

10. Funding

Community-directed treatment activities are funded through three mechanisms:
Trust funds available through APOC
Contributions from the national governments of APOC countries
Funds from non-governmental development organizations.
APOC Trust Fund
APOC is funded entirely from voluntary contributions. The World Bank is the
fiscal agent of APOC. It manages the APOC Trust Fund and reports annually to
the Joint Action Forum on the financial situation of APOC.

11. Summary of APOC Trust Fund resources

Approved budget (1996–2010)
US$ 135 million
Funds pledged (1996–2010)
US$ 128 million
Expenditures (1996–2007)
US$ 112.5 million
Funds pledged but not spent (1996–
2010)
US$ 15.5 million
Funding gap (1996–2010)
US$ 7.0 million
Additional funds required to extend
activities to 2015:
US$ 46.4 million
Total funding gap (1996–2015)
US$ 53.4 million
Total resources (1996–2015)
US$ 181.4 million

12. Achievements

The
main
international
WHA resolutions include:
policy
frameworks
adopted
through
International Health Regulations
International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes, adopted in 1981
Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, adopted in 2003
Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel,
adopted in 2010

13. Achievements

In addition, the WHA has endorsed through resolutions a number of WHO action plans
dealing with different areas to improve health around the world, such as:
Worldwide eradication of smallpox, first endorsed in 1959, and then declared to have
been won in 1980
Worldwide eradication of polio, first endorsed in 1988, recently re-affirmed in 2011
Control of human hookworm infection through regular deworming of at-risk school
children, endorsed in 2001
WHO global action plan for workers' health, endorsed in 2007
Control of harmful use of alcohol, endorsed in 2010
Enhanced global actions for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases,
endorsed in 2011

14. Controversies

Taiwan was invited as an observer to the WHA for 8 years between 2008 and
2016, with the name of Chinese Taipei. However, since the 71st WHA in
2017, China has continued to block Taiwan's participation in WHA as an
observer. United States Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar has
voiced support for Taiwan's inclusion in WHA as an observer.

15. Importance of WHA in global health:

World Health Assembly plays a vital role in global health, through
collaboration with the numerous health entities all over the world working for
the betterment of humankind in a meteoric phase.
WHA in a global platform shows the importance of Global Mental health to the
diverse communities, through organizing programs in cooperation with Global
Public Health Education and training.
WHA introduced the second model World Health Assembly in alliance with the
office of International Affairs for the Health assortment where people
participated in the model assembly and discussed, debated on the issue of
global mental health.
Likewise, annually WHA creates health resolution where it addresses trending
and challenging health issues that have changed the global health landscape.

16. Relations with India

Supporting an improved role of the Government of India in global health
Ensuring the implementation of International Health Regulations and similar
commitments.
Strengthening the pharmaceutical sector including drug regulatory capacity
and, trade and health.
Improving the stewardship capacity of the entire Indian health system

17. Relations with India

Promoting access to and utilization of affordable, efficiently networked and
sustainable quality services by the entire population
Providing universal health service coverage so that every individual would achieve
health gain from a health intervention when needed.
Properly accrediting service delivery institutions (primary health care facilities and
hospitals) to deliver the agreed service package.
Helping to confront the new epidemiological reality of India
Scaling up reproductive, maternal, new-born, child and adolescent health services.
Addressing increased combinations of communicable and noncommunicable diseases.
Gradual, phased “transfer strategy” of WHO services to the national, state and local
authorities without erosion of effectiveness during the transition period.