The Minister of Health of the Union Mansukh Mandaviya, at the World Health Assembly in Geneva, expressed disappointment at the way the WHO report on high mortality was produced and published, ignoring concerns expressed by India and other countries.

“The Central Council of Health and Family Welfare, the constitutional body comprised of health ministers from all provinces in India, unanimously appealed to me to convey their embarrassment and concern for their participation,” he added.

 

The 75th session of the World Health Assembly (WHO) has begun in Geneva, Switzerland, to focus on major issues including the response to the ongoing Covid-19 epidemic and global health through a peace process.

 

Covid-19 remains one of this year’s WHO priorities, the first of its kind in Geneva and visited by delegates since the outbreak more than two years ago, Xinhua news agency reported.

 

Although WHO data shows that Covid-19 reported cases dropped significantly from the Omicron wave in January this year and the mortality rate has dropped significantly since March 2020, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Sunday emphasized in his statement. the opening of the WHA that the epidemic is not over, and that “it is not over until it is all over.”

 

He urged all countries to commit to achieving 70 percent immunization as soon as possible while prioritizing the immunization of all health workers, all over the age of 60, and everyone at high risk.

 

All countries should keep track of Covid, and be prepared to re-introduce and rehabilitate public and social services as needed, he said. Also, countries need to restore essential health services as soon as possible and work with communities to build trust.

 

“This epidemic is not the only tragedy in our world,” he said, in line with WHA’s 75th theme “Peaceful Life, Peace of Health,” and announced that the conference agenda would include complex humanitarian issues in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, and Yemen.

 

“In addition to epidemics, war is shaking and destroying the foundations on which stable communities stood. It deprives all communities of vital health resources, leaving children at risk of preventable vaccines … Indeed, war, famine, and disease in old friends,” he wondered.

 

The WHO has confirmed the attacks on 373 health facilities or staff in 14 countries and territories so far this year. The attack claimed the lives of 154 health workers and patients and injured 131. “Attacks on health workers and health facilities are a violation of international humanitarian law. But it is also an attack on the right to health,” Tedros said.

 

The seven-day WHO is expected to be one of the most widely discussed topics and decisions approved, including the appointment of a new WHO director-general over the next five years. The current king Tedros is the only candidate.