The 75th session of the World Health Assembly (WHA) continues in Geneva. The theme of this year’s Health Assembly is: Health for peace, peace for health.
Head of the Azerbaijani delegation Teymur Musayev delivered a speech on the second day of the Health Assembly’s anniversary session. In his speech the Minister said that since the beginning of the pandemic, the Non-Aligned Movement under the chairmanship of Azerbaijan had actively mobilized the efforts of the broader international community in the spirit of multilateral cooperation and solidarity, launching a series of successful initiatives to combat the pandemic and address its negative consequences.
Mr. Musayev pointed out that the disparity between developing and developed countries in terms of COVID-19 vaccine distribution is derailing the efforts the international community to promptly and completely eradicate the pandemic. It is important, he said, to strengthen all relevant aspects of essential health services in order to ensure more resilient health systems and to effectively combat the pandemic. This, along with various actions, should also include the ongoing continuous vaccination programs for universal health coverage.
The Health Minister stressed that the member states of the Non-Aligned Movement unanimously welcome the initiatives of President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev in his capacity as Chair of the organization.
Teymur Musayev concluded his speech by saying that the next summit-level meeting of the NAM member states would be convened to exchange views for the post-pandemic period and form NAM’s position.
The Health Assembly is the highest decision-making body of the WHO. The main functions of the World Health Assembly are to determine the policies of the Organization, appoint the Director-General, supervise financial policies, and review and approve the proposed program budget.
