[afro-nets] Wrapping Up WHO Meeting (WHA)

[Claudio Schuftan <claudio@hcmc.netnam.vn>]

Wrapping Up WHO Meeting (WHA)
-----------------------------

From: "Vern Weitzel" <vern.weitzel@undp.org

WRAPPING UP WORLD MEETING, UN HEALTH BODY ACTS ON CANCER,
IMMUNIZATION

New York, May 25 2005 1:00PM

As it concluded its annual session today in Geneva, the United
Nations health policy-making body adopted key resolutions af-
fecting global public health, including strategies on global im-
munization and cancer prevention and control.

Highlights of the meeting of the World Health Assembly, which
oversees the work of the UN World Health Organization (WHO),
also included adoption of the revised International Health Regu-
lations that govern national and international response to dis-
ease outbreaks, and the approval of the programme budget for
2006-2007, which includes a 4 per cent increase in the regular
budget.

The Assembly also established World Blood Donor Day as an offi-
cial event to be celebrated every 14 June.

The resolution on cancer, which calls on Member States to de-
velop national cancer strategies, was a priority because of the
worldwide increase in the disease in both developing and devel-
oped countries, according to WHO. Cancer is now the second lead-
ing cause of death in the world, with more than 20 million peo-
ple now living with it and seven million dying annually.

"This resolution provides the impetus for countries to address
the cancer health crisis," said WHO Director-General Dr. Lee
Jong-wook. "Given the impact of cancer on public health, I am
convening an advisory committee of leading experts on this issue
to develop a global cancer control strategy."

Aimed at vaccine-preventable diseases, the Global Immunization
Vision and Strategy was designed by WHO together with the UN
Children's Fund. Such diseases kill more than two million people
every year, two thirds of whom are young children.

"One in four children is still deprived of life-saving vaccines
that should be within reach," said UNICEF Executive Director Ann
Veneman. "This new strategy recognized that if we are to improve
survival, immunization must be sustained year in and year out."

The World Health Assembly convened on 16 May. More than 2,200
people attended, representing WHO's 192 Member States as well as
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other observers.