| No images? Click here  Friday, 23 May 2025 WHA Highlights for Media Day 5 of the 78th World Health Assembly (23 May) The Seventy-eighth World Health Assembly (WHA78) continues at the Palais des Nations in Geneva today, in plenary, Committee A and Committee B. The detailed programme of work can be found in the Daily Journal N°5, available in six languages of the United Nations (UN). The live webcast of the proceedings can be accessed here, simultaneous interpretation will be available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. Working hours of the Health Assembly are 09.00 to 12.00 and 14.30 to 17.30 CEST. Due to the limited space in the Committees' rooms, attending journalists are advised to take up their seats as early as possible. Highlights of the day:
The Plenary The Plenary will proceed with the election of Members entitled to designate a person to serve on the Executive Board (A78/46), and will award prizes to individuals or entities in recognition of their outstanding contributions to public health (A78/INF./1). Committee A The Committee will take up mental health and social connection (A78/4), including a decision Fostering social connection for global health: the essential role of social connection in combating loneliness, social isolation and inequities in health (A78/A/CONF./2), and will consider draft global traditional medicine strategy (2025–2034) (EB156/16 and EB156(28)). On health and care workforce, it will consider reports by the Director-General on the implementation of the WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel (EB156/14 and EB156(26)) and the implementation of the Global strategy on human resources for health: workforce 2030 (EB156/15), including the decision on accelerating action on the global health and care workforce by 2030 (EB156(27)). The Committee will review progress on the Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health (EB156/17) and take action on decisions on World Prematurity Day (EB156(29)) and on regulating the digital marketing of breast-milk substitutes (EB156(30)). On communicable diseases, the Committee will address decisions on accelerating the eradication of dracunculiasis (Guinea-worm disease) (EB156(23)) and on skin diseases as a global public health priority (EB156(24)). As it opens in the morning (immediately following the closure of plenary), the Committee will conclude its discussion on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases, and will consider the decisions on promoting and prioritizing an integrated lung health approach (EB156(19)), promotion of kidney health and strengthening prevention and control of kidney disease (EB156(20)), primary prevention and integrated care for sensory impairments including vision impairment and hearing loss (EB156(21)), and a decision designating 17 November as World Cervical Cancer Elimination Day (EB156(22)). Committee B The Committee will discuss the proposed procedure for the correction of errors in the text of the International Health Regulations (2005) (EB156(38)) and the reassignment of Indonesia from the South-East Asia Region to the Western Pacific Region (A78/31). It will consider the adoption of an updated road map for an enhanced global response to the adverse health effects of air pollution (EB156(33), also see report by Director-General EB156/24), and take up various progress reports (A78/34 Rev.1), including on strengthening diagnostic capacity, infection prevention and control, eradication of dracunculiasis, patient safety, enhancement of laboratory biosafety, smallpox eradication: destruction of variola virus stocks, health, environment and climate change, and on global drowning prevention. At the beginning of the morning meeting, the Committee will conclude the consideration of global strategies and plans of action that are scheduled to expire within one year, including on nursing and midwifery (EB156/34), digital health (EB156/35), public health response to dementia (EB156/36), and maternal, infant and young child nutrition (EB156/37). Eye Health Has 2030 In Sight: New Data, New Resolution, New Momentum (side event) New data on vision and eye care will be released today, Friday, 23 May at a side event to be held from 12:30 to 13.50 CEST in Room VII at the Palais des Nations. The data will be published in The Lancet, and a departmental update will be posted on WHO website. New data shows that millions still suffer from preventable vision loss that could be addressed with simple, cost-effective interventions like eyeglasses. It reveals that the burden of uncorrected vision loss is not equally shared — it weighs far more heavily on low-income countries, women, and older adults. #AskWHO on tackling non-communicable diseases (social media live) Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs)—including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory conditions—are responsible for 75% of global deaths each year. Often striking silently, they can progress unnoticed until it’s too late, earning them the name “silent killers.” Unlike infectious diseases, NCDs rarely trigger urgent responses or headline-grabbing emergencies. This lack of visibility makes them easier to overlook, both in public discourse and on political agendas. But 2025 presents a pivotal opportunity to change that. With NCDs on the agenda at the World Health Assembly and the United Nations General Assembly, the moment to elevate action and accountability is now. Speakers: Guy Fones, Director a.i. Department of NCDs, WHO; Dr Albert Domingo, Assistant Secretary, Department of Health of the Philippines; Shani Griffith-Jack, Counsellor, Permanent Mission of Barbados to the United Nations. Media resources
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Friday, May 23, 2025
NOTE TO JOURNALISTS: WHA Highlights - Day 5 of the 78th World Health Assembly (23 May 2025)
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