WHA69.11 Health in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
At the 2016 (69th) World Health Assembly, Member States endorsed resolution WHA69.11, which states that UHC is at the core of achieving health-related SDGs.
Addressing the adoption of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the UN General Assembly in 2015 (effected in January 1, 2016), the WHO reiterated its emphasis on health-related goals and targets in the SDGs, and emphasized the importance of strengthening health systems as essential to achieving all the goals.
WHA69.11 also stated that Member States must prioritize health system strengthening in order to achieve the SDGs, “including ensuring an adequately skilled and compensated health workforce, in order to achieve and sustain universal health coverage. “The aim is for access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all, ensuring financial protection from out-of-pocket expenditure on health for all... as fundamental to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”
It also “emphasize[d] the need for cooperative action at the national, regional, and global levels across and within all government sectors to tackle social, environmental and economic determinants of health, to reduce health inequities, in particular through the empowerment of women and girls, and contribute to sustainable development, including “Health in All Policies” as appropriate.”
Detailed information may be found at the following link:
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WHA72.2 Primary Health Care
At the 2019 (72nd) World Health Assembly, Member States endorsed resolution WHA72.2, again stressing the importance of primary health care as fundamental to achieving UHC. It urged Member States to implement the Declaration of Astana adopted at the Global Conference on Primary Health Care in Astana.
The Global Conference on Primary Health Care: from Alma-Ata towards Universal Health Coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals was held in Astana on October 26, 2018. The Conference passed the Declaration of Astana, which reiterated the commitment for primary health care while also recognizing that primary health care “is a cornerstone of a sustainable health system for universal health coverage (UHC) and health-related Sustainable Development Goals.”
WHA72.2 urged Member States “to take measures to share and implement the vision and commitments of the Declaration of Astana according to national contexts.”
Detailed information may be found at the following link:
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75th WHA Agenda: about Health Systems, UHC, Primary Care
- Item 14.1(d) Draft recommendations on how to strengthen the design and implementation of policies, including those for resilient health systems and health services and infrastructure, to treat people living with noncommunicable diseases and to prevent and control their risk factors in humanitarian emergencies: WHA 75 reviewed past work on various non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and discussed a number of issues related to NCDs. This item discussed “how to strengthen the design and implementation of policies, including those for resilient health systems and health services and infrastructure, to treat people living with NCDs and to prevent and control their risk factors in humanitarian emergencies.”
- Item 28.1 A Preparation for the high-level meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on universal health coverage: This item is a progress report, which aims to review the preparation of the high-level meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on universal health coverage, and to ensure that each member state continues to support UHC.
- Item 28.1 B Primary health care: This item is a progress report; it reviews each members state’s progress on resolution WHA72.2 and shares WHO and member state policy experience and results related to promoting primary health care.