Hi everyone!

I’m writing this at the end of a pretty incredible day!  There’s a lot to tell!

As I mentioned yesterday, today was the first official day of the World Health Assembly. We’ve basically spent all of today at the UN (where the assembly is held), attending sessions and listening to speakers from all over the world discuss leading public health issues. As you can imagine, it was a very interesting day!

We started out with the visit from Dr. Manoj Kurian from the International AIDS Society. He stopped by our dorm to sit with us and discuss not only the World Health Organization and the work they do, but also some of the very distinct challenges that face regions across the globe in terms of public health. He offered some points of discussion about governments across the world and whether or not they do an adequate job of prioritizing health for their citizens. He also discussed social determinants of health and how so often, an individual’s health is impacted by the social structures they are born into and live within. He shared with us some challenges in adequately addressing global public health issues, as well as the importance of ensuring access to care for all as a means to combat some leading global health concerns. 

Dr. Kurian also described the World Health Assembly and encouraged us to make the most of our time in the sessions to listen to, learn from, and network with the individuals we will encounter throughout this week. From his discussion with us, its clear  that there is quite a bit of work to be done both within the U.S. and beyond to improve the health and well being of individuals. We also learned that an emerging focus of the World Health Organization is noncommunicable diseases (NCDs, also known as chronic diseases), such as heart disease and diabetes. Increasingly, regions across the world are affected by what were traditionally diseases only found in westernized countries. Because the way we live has changed dramatically, more cases can be found across the world. Through the sessions we attend at the World Health Assembly, it was clear that addressing NCDs is a priority.

From here, we made our way to the UN for the assembly. Walking into the UN was very cool - there were people from so many different parts of the world. You definitely got a sense of excitement about the assembly. We had the opportunity to walk around the UN for a bit and get a sense of where the sessions would be held. The UN itself is an interesting building - there was a really pretty courtyard in the middle and through the window, you could get a really nice view of the city with the alps in the background.

We had some lunch in the UN cafeteria and then had the chance to sit in on any of the sessions that peaked our interest. A group of us attended a session organized by delegates from the Netherlands, Singapore, and Canada called “Public-Private Partnerships for Addressing NCDs: Food Labeling and Other Innovative Instruments for Involving the Private Sector and Making Healthy Choices Easier.” Sounds like a mouthful (pardon the pun :) ) but the focus of the session was involving both the public health system and food retailers in promoting healthier eating through food labeling that assists consumers in buying healthier food and choosing healthy options. A delegate from the Netherlands presented on the “Healthy Choices” program, which uses food labeling to successfully promote decreased consumption of saturated fats, trans fats, and sugars. One of the main messages in the presentation was that promoting healthy eating should involve not only the public health system, but also the private sector - which includes businesses where food is sold and the food industry in general. They spoke a lot about the importance of collaborating along all of these lines to ensure people have access to healthy foods. Here’s a link to the Choices program: http://www.choicesprogramme.org/

Dr. Margaret Chan addressing the assembly

Following this session, we attended the address provided by WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan. This was especially interesting to see. The address was given in a large assembly room where all of the delegates gathered. Among the delegates we could see from our seats overlooking the assembly was U.S. Director of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius. We could also see representatives from countless other countries, which was really interesting.

Delegates in the assembly room

In her address, Dr. Chan spoke about some recent successes of the WHO and the continued work that’s needed. She mentioned emerging threats such as the H7N9 virus (“bird flu”) and the importance of reporting cases and preparedness across the globe, efforts in meeting the Millennium Development Goals (http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/), the prevention and control of diarrhea and pneumonia to protect childhood health, the use of anti-retroviral therapy to treat HIV/AIDS, the continued need for “research, evidence, and information” in forming strong global health policies, prevention as the cornerstone in addressing the prevalence of NCDs across the globe, the need for equity in access to health care, the importance of innovation in health, and the need for a trained health care workforce to deliver the care that is vital for public health. She was a very good speaker and her passion for her work was very evident in how she addressed the assembly.

After Dr. Chan’s address, we dispersed again and a group of us visited numerous vendors with lots of different information about WHO and other organizations’ efforts to address nearly every global health issue you can imagine. I had the opportunity to speak with people about maternal/child health, global health systems, cancer research, building the capacity to conduct research in the developing world, and preventing violence against women in global settings. I’m hoping to make it to more vendors when we return tomorrow!

After this, we attended a session called “Promoting Global Mental Health: The Role of the Public, Private, and Non-Profit Sectors,” which was organized by the delegation from Canada. Included speakers on the panel were the ministers of health from Ethiopia and Canada, the CEO and president of the Catholic Hospital Association (Sister Carol Keehan), the Chief Medical Officer of the Department of Health and Aging in Australia, the Chief of Disease Prevention and Control from the Ministry of Health in Chile, and the  chair of a mental health nonprofit in Canada. This panel was particularly interesting - it was a chance to learn more about global health needs related to mental health and successful initiatives in the U.S., Canada, Ethiopia, and Australia to promote mental health well being and to ensure individuals have access to mental health care. During the session, Dr. Chan slipped into the room and said a few words about the importance of global mental health promotion, which was really cool!

After a long, productive, and interesting day, we made our way back to the dorm. We’re gearing up for another day at the World Health Assembly tomorrow! We are especially curious to see who the invited speaker is - this typically isn’t shared until the day of the speech. I will let you know! :)

Until next time,

Diana