World Health Assembly (WHA76)

07 Jun 2023

The World Health Assembly (WHA 76) was held in Geneva, Switzerland between 21-30 May and WSO was represented by the President, Sheila Martins and Executive Director, Mia Grupper. Apart from attending the WHA, they also attended several of the side meetings.

The World Heart Summit took place from 19th to 21st May 2023 in Geneva, Under the timely and universal theme of "Cardiovascular Health for Everyone," the Summit successfully convened policymakers, diplomats, researchers, private sector partners, and health advocates. This gathering fostered invaluable connections with leaders and innovators in the global cardiovascular community, with the common goal of fortifying the global response to cardiovascular disease and improving lives with longevity and vitality.

We are immensely proud to announce that our President Sheila Martins spoked at the summit as a panelist on the 20th of May, regarding the topic "From Global to Local: Solutions for Heart Health." With examples from Brazil and Ethiopia, Sheila Martins shared comprehensive healthcare models to improve stroke care in Low an middle income countries.

Following the World Heart Summit, an NCD Alliance event titled "Invest In and Engage People Living With Noncommunicable Diseases: Next Steps to Realize Universal Health Coverage" was held on 22nd May 2023. The event was co-hosted with The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust. This event explored global progress on the inclusion of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in Universal Health Coverage(UHC), highlighted the benefits of investing in NCDs at the national level, and emphasized the importance of involving civil society organizations and people living with NCDs in UHC governance and decision-making roles. Sheila Martins also spoked at this session highlight the impact of global stroke burden.

WSO along with other NCD community members raised the voice of the global NCD community through its written Advocacy Briefing for WHA76. The theme of this year’s Health Assembly was: WHO at 75: Saving lives, driving health for all. The major item under this year’s NCD agenda was the update of the Appendix 3 of WHO’s Global NCD Action Plan 2013–2030. Based on the provisional agenda for WHA76, WSO and the NCD community applauded the update on appendix 3 of the Global NCD Action Plan that includes a menu of policy options and cost-effective interventions for the prevention and control of NCDs. This work is vital to continue the effort in achieving global targets on NCDs and their risk factors by 2030. WSO would like to highlight several agenda items discussed during the world health Assembly:

Regarding agenda item 13.1 Universal Health Coverage : WSO along with the various organizations focused on NCDs and public health supported an Constituency Statement to urge the acceleration of UHC implementation by including quality NCD prevention and care services in country UHC health benefit packages.

Regarding article 13.2, Political declaration of the third high level meeting of the General Assembly on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases: the NCD community commend the Political declaration of the third high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the prevention and control of non- communicable diseases, and mental health and expansion of cost-effectiveness analyses to new interventions, parameters, and country data, which reinforces their investment case.

Discussion regarding both article 13.1 and 13.2 were combined last minute in the session to emphasizes the inseparable connection between NCDs and UHC. Several member states also have highlighted its importance of including NCD in Universal healthcare and shared its health interventions at the assembly: Bhutan emphasized that achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) can be accomplished by implementing NCD and mental health policies outlined in the WHO's Global NCD Action Plan's Appendix 3, which includes recommended interventions and NCD "best buys." Singapore highlighted lessons in promoting UHC and controlling NCDs, such as enhancing primary care capacity, strengthening health systems resilience, and leveraging digital health for accelerated action. Tanzania, facing the double burden of communicable and noncommunicable diseases, emphasized nationwide prevention efforts, promoting healthy eating, exercise, and early detection through a community-based care model. The integration of NCDs into UHC health benefits packages is one of NCDA’s key asks for the upcoming UN High-Level Meeting on UHC taking place in New York this September.

Regarding agenda item 13.4, Strengthening rehabilitation system: the NCD community including the WSO commended the Secretariat for its decision in strengthening rehabilitation services for individuals living with non-communicable diseases (NCDs), cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) including stroke, and post-COVID conditions. Furthermore, the agenda urges member states to prioritizing the integration of comprehensive continuum of care, and strengthening of rehabilitation in health systems.

Regarding agenda item 15.2, The agenda included both strengthening the global architecture for health emergency preparedness, response and resilience, and strengthening clinical trials to provide high-quality evidence on health interventions and to improve research quality and coordination. Led by the World Heart Federation, and supported by WSO and other NCD community members, the constituency statement urging member states to increase domestic mobilization and allocation of resources to address noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and specifically cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors. As well as ensuring access to essential health services during emergency and Strengthen the NCD component of pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response (PPPR) efforts. The committee concluded the consideration of items 15.1.

WSO aims to continue following the progress and lend its support to these crucial initiatives which signify a significant advancement in tackling noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and stroke on a global level.

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