World Health Organization Assembly Covers Variety of Health Topics: 20 New Resolutions

On Saturday the World Health Organization concluded the 67^th World Health Assembly that adopted more than 20 resolutions regarding public health issues of global importance with the support of nearly 3,500 delegates.

The latest global plan covers a myriad of health issues that have been on the forefront of the WHO's agenda recently. Topics ranging from antimicrobial resistance to violence to universal health coverage consumed the assembly's list of challenges to confront. The assembly also declared issues that will be presented at next year's meeting to potentially be approved by then.

"This has been an intense Health Assembly, with a record-breaking number of agenda items, documents and resolutions, and nearly 3 500 registered delegates," said Dr. Margaret Chan, WHO's Director-General in this news release. "This is a reflection of the growing number of complexity of health issues, and your deep interest in addressing them."

Perhaps the most pressing issues discussed at the assembly were antimicrobial drug resistance, universal health coverage, financing and coordination for treating disease in developing countries, access to essential medicines, and newborn health. To improve the well being of humans across the globe, the assembly sought to address these issues from every angle.

The WHO suggested that in order to deal with antimicrobial drug resistance, Member States should strengthen drug management systems, support research to extend the lifespan of existing drugs, and to encourage the development of new diagnostics and treatment options. According to a report released in April, the WHO found that there are high proportions of antibiotic resistance worldwide for common infections such as urinary tract infections, pneumonia, and bloodstream infections. This is an issue that needs to be dealt with promptly.

An issue that the assembly issued a future plan for was newborn health. In the first-ever global plan to end preventable newborn deaths, the assembly declared a new plan for Member States to follow in order to achieve fewer than 10 newborn deaths per 1,000 live births by 2035. Every country will be required to invest in high-quality care to prevent such deaths from happening in the future.