Newsletter Edition #349 [The Files Brief]
Readers,
In this edition we bring you a quick update on the opening of the World Health Assembly in Geneva this week.
This year we are trying a new format of shorter updates from us during the on-going World Health Assembly. You will receive our signature long-form analyses in due course that will tie together the various moving parts.
Thank you for your patience with an increased number of editions from us during this period.
We are also sharing photos in these pages as we scavenge for information this week!
Finally, if you have an opinion on what should be the role of journalism in global health diplomacy, join us for a dialogue this week.
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Priti
Priti Patnaik, Founder & Publisher, Geneva Health Files
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Presenting our weekly in-depth analysis on global health that captures the big picture and the nuances like no one else does. This is an exclusive edition for our subscribers.
Health Emergencies & Political Votes Intersect to Spark Off Tense Start to the World Health Assembly
The complexity and the realities of the times we live in, are all too evident in the unfolding World Health Assembly – the annual gathering for countries to discuss health.
A declaration of Public Health Emergency of International Concern preceded the meeting. An Emergency Committee is being convened today to discuss the Ebola emergency in Africa. The strain of Ebola virus, has caught authorities by surprise, and there are no available vaccines yet.
A hantavirus outbreak that began on a ship, is being quietly managed through contact-tracing and quarantine, and yet is keeping public health authorities including the World Health Organization on tenterhooks, till the storm passes.
(These are part of the more than 30 graded emergencies around the world that the WHO is currently responding to, ones that need the institution’s intervention).
These developments cover only one part of the challenges facing countries.
The political aspects of global health essentially blew up at the plenary discussion on the very first day of the Assembly. There were three votes on Russia-Ukraine, Iran-Gulf Countries, and Palestine-Israel. (We will have a detailed report on this in the coming days)
This should not surprise anyone. Global health holds up a mirror to geopolitics. What you get outside the room, is what you will see inside the room. In other words, when people and health workers, are being bombed, it will not be polite inside.
In the midst of these raw debates, countries are also putting out their vision on reforming how global health should be governed. And the discussions on reforms will be one of the most significant this year.
Mind you, although only day one has passed, a lot has happened already. What’s coming this week, will continue to be undoubtedly political.
We discuss what we saw, and alert you on what you should look out for.
