Geneva Telegram - The World Health Assembly – Pandemic accord, sustain-able finance and geopolitics

The 76th World Health Assembly (WHA) was the first after the end of the Covid pandemic declared in early May. And yet the experiences made during the Covid-19 crisis shaped the meeting - as evident from many statements on the pandemic accord under discussion. The Member States of the World Health Organisation (WHO) also discussed WHO finances: they greenlighted an increase in the assessed contributions of Member States and discussed possibilities of new financing models. Cases of sexual misconduct by WHO staff and the measures taken by WHO since then were also on the agenda. Repeatedly, the health consequences of war and conflict dominated the agenda: e.g., the WHA adopted (by vote) a resolution criticizing the Russian war of aggression and the numerous attacks on health facilities and personnel in Ukraine. Russia, in turn, tried (unsuccessfully) to block Ukraine's election to the WHO executive board. Despite these disturbances, the WHA managed to pass some important decisions on different issues.

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