Message from Elisha

May 28, 2024

As you read this message, the Global Health Council team is currently attending the 77th World Health Assembly. We anticipate seeing many of you in Geneva. For those of you unable to attend in person, we will be keeping you up to date as the event unfolds.

This convening is a whirlwind of discussion around World Health Organization (WHO) policies, workplan, and budget. But a significant amount of effort actually takes place beforehand. As a non-state actor (NSA) in official relations with WHO, We have been rigorously preparing for this moment. With the help of many GHC members — who contributed their invaluable expertise — we have drafted statements on:

  • Universal Health Coverage
  • Antimicrobial resistance
  • INB agreement on pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response
  • Climate change, pollution and health

Our delegation will deliver these statements on the floor of the WHA during the official proceedings. We will also be keeping a watchful eye on the discourse around NSA engagement at official WHO proceedings, which has been a continued area of concern for our community. Of course, we are also interested in the entire program of work.

All of our constituent statements will be posted to the GHC website after they have been delivered. We encourage you to check back regularly for updates.

Whether or not you will be in Geneva, there are still ways for you to participate in this dialogue. We have created a social media toolkit that can be used to amplify our community’s messages. By sharing this content on your platforms, you are letting your voice be heard.

GHC team members will also be speaking at a variety of side events throughout the week, some of which are highlighted later in this message. For more details, as well as a comprehensive list of member and community events, we encourage you to visit our calendar of WHA side events.

Though it is one of the busiest weeks of the year for our team, it is also a time of extraordinary community. We don’t take the responsibility to represent all of you — and to amplify our collective voice — at WHA lightly. We look forward to providing updates during the week and to sharing a comprehensive report out once we return from Geneva.