UK Nationwide Assertion for the 79th World Heath Assembly

Thank you President, expensive buddies,

At this very second, World Health Organization employees are saving lives on the frontlines of crises, responding to public well being challenges like Ebola, and are sometimes working on the planet’s most harmful and demanding circumstances.

Whether in Ukraine, Sudan or Palestine, their work embodies what this organisation stands for: science, solidarity, and repair. It additionally serves as a robust reminder of our shared duty to guard everybody, and the important civilian infrastructure that makes that care doable.

I reiterate that the United Kingdom unequivocally condemns all assaults on civilian infrastructure.

It is exactly due to these realities that the World Health Organization stays indispensable. At a time of profound and intersecting international challenges, its management, grounded in science, technical experience, and evidence-based motion has by no means been extra essential. We noticed the ability of that international technical experience and collaboration within the response to the Hantavirus outbreak.

The WHO’s position in convening international locations, setting international requirements, and offering neutral recommendation is prime to robust well being methods worldwide, and the UK is proud to help it.

To meet the calls for of immediately’s crises and people forward, the WHO should proceed to uphold the best requirements of technical excellence. In that spirit, like others, we name for Taiwan to have significant entry to all related technical WHO conferences and to look at the World Health Assembly, because it did from 2009 to 2016.

The United Kingdom is dedicated to translating science and innovation into real-world affect, together with by our 66 WHO Collaborating Centres. We additionally commend Member States working to agree an efficient and equitable Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing Annex to the Pandemic Agreement.

We should now act with urgency on antimicrobial resistance, one of the critical threats to international well being, and on the damaging energy of nicotine, the place the UK is taking daring steps to create our first smoke-free technology by our Tobacco and Vapes Act.

The United Kingdom stays steadfast in our dedication to multilateralism. Together, we will strengthen an efficient international well being system that delivers for many who rely on it most.

Thank you.