2023-09-14 17:12:00
The World Health Organization (WHO) has called on leaders meeting at the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York to put health for all at the top of the political agenda and put lessons learned into practice of the Covid-19 pandemic.
A press release from the Organization specifies that “WHO’s appeal comes at a time of increasing humanitarian and climate crises that threaten the lives and livelihoods of people around the world”.
WHO launches call for faster progress on health targets ahead of the Sustainable Development Goals Summit (SDG Summit) and an unprecedented number of high-level meetings on health at the Assembly General Assembly, and more specifically to efforts to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, achieve universal health coverage (UHC) and end tuberculosis.
Gathered to make commitments around these three major health issues, government officials have the opportunity to prove that health is an investment, not a cost, and that it is decisive for the prosperity and resilience of families, societies and economies, notes the WHO.
According to Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the WHO, quoted in the press release, “If Covid-19 has taught us one thing, it is that when health is in danger, everything is in danger. The pandemic has caused enormous economic, social and political upheaval, and has halted progress, and even caused setbacks, on the health targets of the Sustainable Development Goals.« .
“The UN General Assembly provides an opportunity for world leaders to show they have learned the painful lessons of the pandemic and take concrete steps towards a healthier, safer and fairer world for all »he added.
For the WHO, access to life-saving treatments is unequal across the world and millions of people cannot obtain or cannot afford the care they need. Noncommunicable diseases and mental disorders, which cause more than 70% of deaths globally, threaten social and economic development around the world.
At the SDG Summit on September 18-19, heads of state and government will take stock of progress made at the midpoint ahead of the 2030 deadline and in the context of numerous global crises, including understood in relation to SDG 3, which consists of ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all.
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