Member States and partners at the 72nd World Health Assembly (WHA), reaffirmed their commitment to the political declaration of the UN High Level Meeting on TB and its targets, shared actions taken in follow-up, and expressed resounding support and appreciation for the work led by WHO with partners towards ending TB.
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus opened the WHA with a moving tribute to Dr Richard Valery Mouzoko Kiboung, the WHO staff member who lost his life fighting Ebola in an attack on Butembo University Hospital in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Over the next days, the WHA held discussions under the broad umbrella of universal health coverage (UHC). Some of the key discussions included antimicrobial resistance, patient safety, and a new global strategy on health, environment and climate change. The Assembly also declared 2020 the Year of the Nurse and the Midwife.
The WHA took place at the UN Palais des Nations, Geneva, over 20-28 May 2019. It was attended by more than 4000 delegates from over 190 WHO Member States and many partner organizations. It is one of the world's most important health-related meetings.
World Health Assembly supports WHO's efforts in follow-up to the UN high-level meeting on TB
On 24 May, the WHA reviewed a report by the Director-General on progress since the 2018 UN High Level Meeting on TB (UNHLM). Over 50 Member States and partners commended the actions being taken by WHO in leading UNHLM follow up and support to countries, including in the development of critical guidelines and the finalization of the multisectoral accountability framework.
Key actions highlighted in the report included, intensive support to Member States in delivering country impact, finalization of the multisectoral accountability framework, promoting collaboration across stakeholders, implementation of the Joint Flagship Initiative- Find.Treat.All.#EndTB and the development of a global TB research strategy. WHO will support the UN Secretary-General, as requested in the UNHLM political declaration, to provide a global progress report to the General Assembly in 2020.
These efforts are fully aligned with WHO’s new Thirteenth General Programme of Work and its “triple billion” goals.
WHO launches a multisectoral accountability framework to end TB
On 24 May, WHO released a multisectoral accountability framework to accelerate progress to end the TB epidemic. The framework was requested by the World Health Assembly and the UN General Assembly in 2018. WHO seeks to enable its adaptation and use by Member States and their partners at country, regional and global levels in 2019. The Framework was shared with Member States in advance of the 72nd World Health Assembly.
The framework (known for short as MAF-TB) aims to support the process of defining who is accountable, what they are accountable for, and how they will be held accountable, at country and local levels, as well as at regional and global levels.
19 May
End TB at the Walk the Talk - Health for All Challenge
On the eve of the World Health Assembly, WHO organized a major health promotion event in Geneva titled 'Walk the Talk: The Health for All Challenge'. Staff from the WHO Global TB Programme, Stop TB Partnership, Global Fund, The Union, UNITAID, FIND, countries and partners came together in End TB vests in a show of unity to End TB at the event.
20 May
WHA Side-Event: Multisectoral action to take forward the commitments of the UN high-level meeting on tuberculosis
The Russian Federation organized a side event on the sidelines of the World Health Assembly on 20 May to bring together Member States, partners and civil society, to discuss how to collectively advance multisectoral action and accelerate progress to keep the promises made at the UN high-level meeting on TB and the Moscow Declaration to End TB. Speakers included high level country delegates from the Russian Federation, China, Brazil, Viet Nam, and partners including The Union, FIND and Mc Gill Global Health, Canada. Dr Saurabh Rane, an XDR-TB survivor delivered an empassioned plea to the global community to accelerate action to end the suffering and death caused by TB to millions worldwide at the start of the event. The event was moderated by Dr Tereza Kasaeva, Director of the WHO Global TB Programme. Dr Ren Minghui, Assistant Director-General, Universal Health Coverage/Communicable and Noncommunicable Diseases delivered closing remarks.
21 May
End TB Interactive Exhibit
The WHO Global TB Programme exhibited its latest tools and guidelines to accelerate progress to end TB at the Main Hall of the UN Palais des Nations during the World Health Assembly. Exhibits included live demos of the End TB Accelerator Package, the End TB dashboard: a new digital platform to store, analyze and visualize national and subnational TB surveillance data as well as two new TB chatbots. The Queen of Spain and the Second Lady of Ghana stopped by the exhibit to learn about ongoing efforts to end TB.