The 67th Session of the World Health Assembly (WHA) took place 19-24 May 2014 at the UN Palais des Nations in Geneva, bringing together Member States and Civil Society Organisations from around the world. 

Rolling Updates from WHA 67

Saturday 24 May

9:00pm: WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan closed the 67th World Health Assembly noting a record-breaking number of agenda items, documents, and resolutions, and nearly 3,500 registered delegates. NCD-related decisions taken are summarised below (please note that several resolutions are not yet available in final text):

• Agenda item 11.3: Engagement with Non-State Actors: A draft decision calls for further consultations at the WHO Regional Committee Meetings in 2014, and Member states are invited to submit “specific” follow-up questions to the Secretariat. The WHO secretariat is requested to provide an account of these “further consultations” and a proposed way forward to the 136th WHO Executive Board in January 2015.
• Agenda item 13.1: NCD Prevention and Control: Adopted the action plan indicators for NCDs; recommended the ToRs for the UN Task Force on NCDs for submission to ECOSOC; adopted the ToRs for the GCM and noted the GCM work plan (with some “friendly” amendments); and noted the UN Review paper, with a request for the Director-General to report back on the Review to WHA 68 in 2015. The NCD Alliance delivered two statements on NCDs, which can be found in the documents box to the left.
• Agenda item 13.3: Global Disability Action Plan: Adopted a resolution endorsing the WHO global disability action plan 2014–2021 which aims to improve the health and quality of life of the one billion people around the world with disabilities by improving their access to health care and creating new and strengthening existing services and technologies.
• Agenda item 13.5: Psoriasis: Adopted a resolution on psoriasis which encourages Member States to raise awareness about the disease and to advocate against the stigma. The name of the resolution was changed to "Psoriasis" during the discussions at WHA.
• Agenda item 14.1: Health in the post-2015 development agenda: Adopted a resolution urging Member States and the Director-General to ensure that health is central to the post-2015 development agenda. The resolution calls on Member States to incorporate the need for action on NCDs and injuries, as well as to promote mental health. It furthermore calls for inclusion of health sensitive indicators in all relevant dimensions of sustainable development. The NCD Alliance delivered a statement on post-2015, which can be found in the documents box to the left.
• Agenda item 14.4: Multisectoral action for a life course approach to healthy ageing: Noted a report and decided to request the WHO Director-General to develop a comprehensive global strategy and plan of action for healthy ageing to be considered by the 138th Executive Board and 69th World Health Assembly in 2016.
• Agenda item 14.6: Sustainable action across sectors to improve health and health equity: Noted report A 67/25. A Framework for Country Action for Health in All Policies has been developed and can be accessed here.
• Agenda item 15.5: Palliative Care: Member States adopted a groundbreaking resolution on palliative care that will help drive national action to reduce barriers to the accessibility and availability of palliative care.

WHO Director-General Margaret Chan’s closing speech can be accessed here.

Friday 23 May

8:00pm: The framework of engagement with non-state actors was discussed this evening. The draft decision of the working group from yesterday was agreed, but with the deadline for questions of 6th June changed to 17th June. A report following the Regional Consultations this Autumn will then be circulated by mid December in preparation for the EB.

Thursday 22 May

5:30pm: Agenda item 13.1 on NCD Prevention and Control was discussed today in Committee A at WHA. In total 53 Member States made interventions on the four main items in the paper, namely:

• A limited set of action plan indicators as part of the Global Action Plan (Annex 4)
• The UN NCD Task Force Terms of Reference (Annex 2)
• The GCM Terms of Reference and workplan
• Paper on the July UN Review preparations

Member States congratulated WHO on delivering on the global assignments from the 2011 UN Political Declaration, including the global monitoring framework and the global coordination mechanism for NCDs. Many noted the importance of multisectoral collaboration and action in the global NCD response, and for ensuring the meaningful involvement of of civil society in the GCM for NCDs. A few Member States proposed specific amendments on the GCM work plan, particularly on Appendix 1 on the appointment, composition and outputs of the working groups.

Wednesday 21 May

2:30pm: The NCD Alliance has launched a new policy brief, “Sustaining Human Development: Leveraging Early Life Opportunities for NCDs,” which provides rationale for investing in the early years of life for NCD prevention and control, suggests strategic opportunities for interventions and impact, and outlines recommendations for the post-2015 era. The brief was produced in collaboration with The Partnership for Maternal and Newborn Child Health (PMNCH), the International Society for Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD), and NCD Child, and was launched at our side event “Addressing the NCD Challenge in the Post-2015 Development Agenda: The Lifecourse Approach,” co-hosted with the governments of Malaysia and New Zealand and the World Heart Federation.

Tuesday 20 May

12:30pm: The World Bank and WHO today published their joint paper, Monitoring Progress towards Universal Health Coverage at Country and Global Levels: Framework, Measures and Targets. The paper, intended as a guide for discussions and assessments of country progress towards universal health coverage (UHC), proposes a monitoring framework with targets on equitable service coverage (including NCDs) and financial risk protection, and illustrative indicators for prevention and treatment interventions. This framework was developed following a series of consultations with civil society, and is part of ongoing discussions on defining UHC and its role in post-2015.

Monday 19 May

3:30pm: ​In her opening address, WHO Director-General Margaret Chan drew attention to the rising burden of NCDs, and announced the new Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity. The high-level Commission will produce a consensus report detailing effective interventions in reducing childhood obesity, with recommendations to be presented at the 68th WHA. The Commission is to be co-chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, Chief Science Advisor to the Prime Minister of New Zealand, and Dr Sania Nishtar, founder of Heartfile in Pakistan.

9:30pm: The NCD Alliance co-hosted event this evening NCD Countdown 2025: Measuring Progress, Accelerating Action introduced the NCD Alliance and The Lancet's joint accountability initiative for the NCD response, NCD Countdown 2025. The event also marked the 5th anniversary of the NCD Alliance. The panel, moderated by Richard Hornton, Editor of The Lancet, focused discussions on the importance of multisectoral collaboration - including UN, academia and civil society - for effective accountability and progress towards the 2025 global NCD targets. A video of the event can be found here.

Sunday 18 May

6:30pm: Prior to the commencement of the formal WHA proceedings tomorrow, the NCD Alliance held a pre-briefing for NGOs this afternoon. This served to prepare for NCD-related agenda items, share side events, coordinate advocacy messages and strategies, and discuss the latest developments on the UN Review.

WHA Advocacy Briefing

Inpreparation for WHA 67, the NCD Alliance developed an advocay brieifing, with key messages and recommendations on the GCM/NCD, UN Review, and post-2015.

Click here to download the briefing.

Official Proceedings

Official documentation for the week can be found here. NCDs have been very prominent throughout the agenda, with a complementary focus on promoting health throughout the lifecourse. Central NCD items include:

• Discussions around a limited set of action plan indicators on the Global Action Plan 2013-2020
• Terms of reference for the Global Coordination Mechanism
• Terms of reference for UN Task Force on Prevention and Control of NCDs

Other NCD-related items include a report on the 2008-2013 Action plan for the Global Strategy for the prevention and control of NCDs. In addition, Member States are expected to adopt landmark resolutions on palliative care and psoriasis, the WHO global disability action plan 2014–2021, and discuss health in post-2015.

In addition to the formal agenda items, a full calendar of NCD related side events can be found in the documents box to the left hand side of this page.

Photo credit: UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré