For the past few days a delegation of IFMSA has been attending the 130th WHO’s Executive Board meeting in Geneva. The WHO EB is composed of 34 members technically qualified in the field of health. Members are elected for three-year terms. The main Board meeting, at which the agenda for the forthcoming Health Assembly is agreed upon and resolutions for forwarding to the Health Assembly are adopted, is held in January, with a second shorter meeting in May, immediately after the Health Assembly, for more administrative matters. The main functions of the Board are to give effect to the decisions and policies of the Health Assembly, to advise it and generally to facilitate its work.
And as Dr. Margaret Chan said in her initial report to the WHO’s EB, this meeting has “a strong and challenging agenda at a time when the world at large is in very bad shape”. So in a time where public health can be “proud of its willingness to take on increasingly complex problems”, this meeting will address various topics from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to the Social Determinants of Health (SDHs), passing by Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs), the WHO reform and many other topics, such as the nomination of Dr. Chan for her second term in Office as the Director General of WHO. On top of that all, the Rio+20 topic was also added on the agenda in the begining of the meeting.
Even in times of great economic crisis, “money alone does not buy better health” and that is also why IFMSA is present in such a forum, trying to point out its perspectives about the “Good policies that promote equity [that] have a better chance” on achieving that goal.
We will in the days to come meet with our externals from various of organizations and WHO, we will make potent statements on selected topics in order to present IFMSAs view on how policies should look like.
To follow this and more, stay tuned!!!
Best regards the IFMSA team
Miguel, Usman, Alex and Chris
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