Zika and its public health threat at the upcoming 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, dominated World Health Organization Director-General Margaret Chan’s press briefing on Tuesday.
But the Zika virus is only one part of the agenda at the upcoming 69th World Health Assembly, which Chan described as “record-breaking” for the number of agenda items and resolutions member states will need to discuss and agree on at the May 23-28 event, from the operational plan to implement the Global Strategy on Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ health, draft global strategy on health workforce, to discussions on access to essential medicines worldwide.
There is however another theme emerging from the annual event: internal reforms and initiatives taking place at WHO that will also be on the assembly’s agenda:
About the author
Jenny Lei Ravelo@JennyLeiRavelo
Jenny Lei Ravelo is a Devex Senior Reporter based in Manila. She covers global health, with a particular focus on the World Health Organization, and other development and humanitarian aid trends in Asia Pacific. Prior to Devex, she wrote for ABS-CBN, one of the largest broadcasting networks in the Philippines, and was a copy editor for various international scientific journals. She received her journalism degree from the University of Santo Tomas.
