French-speaking Ambassadors from Geneva debate with the Director-General of the who

Ten days before the annual meeting of the Ministers of Health of the planet, the French-speaking Ambassadors met with Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the WHO and his principal deputies to discuss the challenges in global public health.

The 77th World Health Assembly (May 27-June 1, 2024) promises to be particularly important with the expected adoption of two important instruments: an Agreement on the prevention and management of pandemics in order to avoid the situation in which the world found itself faced with COVID-19 and, on the other hand, an update of the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005) which constitutes the compass for global health.

In a tense negotiation context, the Director General took stock of the progress of the work, welcoming the efforts made by the States to overcome most of the divergent points. He called for even more flexibility regarding the rest of the sticking points (technology transfer, local production, identification of priority pathogens, financing) on ​​which negotiations will focus next week. According to him, this is a final collective effort necessary to achieve the desired consensus, with the sole objective of access to health for all.

This is the same objective that the 14th General Program of Work of the WHO aims for, a point which was also the subject of discussions at this GAF plenary. This Program, adopted by the Executive Board last January and which will be submitted for approval to the AMS, aims in particular to consolidate the global health strategy for the next four years.

Finally, the GAF also spoke with David Atchoarena, Executive Director of the WHO Academy based in Lyon, about the opportunity offered by this continuing education center for capacity building in French-speaking States. The activities of this Academy, which aims to position itself as the world reference center for training in global public health, will be officially launched at the end of 2024 and are the subject of keen interest from French-speaking States.