The World Health Assembly (WHA) is the forum through which the World Health Organization (WHO) is governed by its 193 member states. It is the world's highest health policy setting body and is composed of health ministers from member states. The members of the WHA generally meet every year in May in Geneva, Switzerland, at the Palace of Nations, the location of WHO Headquarters. The main tasks of the WHA are to decide major policy questions, as well as to approve the WHO work programme and budget and elect its Director-General (every fifth year) and annually to elect ten members to renew part of its executive board. Its main functions are to determine the policies of the Organization, supervise financial policies, and review and approve the proposed programme budget.
Members, observers and rules The original membership of the WHA, at the first assembly held in 1948, numbered 55 member states. The WHA has, currently, 193 member states (all UN members without Liechtenstein and the United States, plus the Cook Islands and Niue). The WHA also includes two associate members, Puerto Rico and Tokelau. In addition, seven agencies have observer status at the WHA – the Vatican, the Palestinian Authority, the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the South Centre organization, and the Inter-Parliamentary Union. The Assembly is governed by Rules of Procedure of the World Health Assembly; agenda items are set by the General Committee of the Assembly, a group of 25 individuals that includes the President and subcommittee chairs, and a number of delegates elected by the Assembly previous.
Taiwan
Taiwan participated as an observer to the WHA for 8 years between 2008 and 2016, under the name "Chinese Taipei". The WHA allows non-state entities to join as observers, whereas the WHO requires statehood to be its member. However, since the 71st WHA in 2017, pressure from the Chinese government has prevented Taiwan from participating in the WHA again. The United States, Australia, Germany, and Japan are among countries that support the re-inclusion of Taiwan.
Executive board Each year, the WHA elects members from among its ranks to renew the executive board (EB). This body is governed in Chapter VI, Articles 24 through 29, of the Constitution of the WHO. The EB must have an equitable geographic distribution, and "shall be elected for three years and may be re-elected... The Board shall meet at least twice a year and shall determine the place of each meeting." This is invariably chosen (by consensus) to be Geneva. A current list of members on the executive board can be derived through consultation of the WHA #Annual Assemblies summaries which are posted below.
Resolutions The main international policy frameworks adopted through WHA resolutions include:
International Health Regulations International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes, adopted in 1981 Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, adopted in 2003 Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel, adopted in 2010 In addition, the WHA has endorsed through resolutions a number of WHO action plans dealing with different areas to improve health around the world, such as:
Worldwide eradication of smallpox, first endorsed in 1959, and then declared to have been won in 1980 Worldwide eradication of polio, first endorsed in 1988, recently re-affirmed in 2011 Control of human hookworm infection through regular deworming of at-risk school children, endorsed in 2001 WHO global action plan for workers' health, endorsed in 2007 Control of harmful use of alcohol, endorsed in 2010 Enhanced global actions for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases, endorsed in 2011 The WHA is also responsible for the endorsement of the WHO Family of International Classifications, a series of internationally standardized medical classifications, including the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) and the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF).
Annual Assemblies
2008: Sixty-first WHA The focus of the 61st WHA was public health. Participants from 190 countries attended, with a record 2704 delegates. Important briefings and resolutions involved intellectual property barriers in research and development; combatting non-communicable diseases and female genital mutilation; campaigns to support breastfeeding and to decrease abuse of alcohol and tobacco; immunization practices, including adoption of the term "pharma fraud"; and health issues facing migrants.
2009: Sixty-second WHA In her role as global patron of The White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood, and chair of the Maternal Mortality Campaign, Sarah Brown gave the keynote speech at the World Health Organization's 62nd WHA, alongside United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, asking "Where is the M in MCH?' [maternal and child health]" in an echo of Allan Rosenfield's landmark Lancet article of 1985 – and highlighting that the numbers of women dying in pregnancy and childbirth were still the same 14 years later.
2012: Sixty-fifth WHA Among other actions, the 65th Assembly endorsed the Rio Political Declaration to address the social determinants of health, intended to spearhead support for all countries to adopt inclusive Health For All approaches to health promotion. It also endorsed the first World Immunization Week.
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