VICE President General Retired Dr Constantino Chiwenga, who
is also the Minister of Health and Child Care, has arrived in Geneva,
Switzerland, ahead of the 76th Session
of the World Health Assembly which kicks off on Sunday.
Vice President Chiwenga is also expected to hold several
meetings with key stakeholders in the global health sector and share notes with
other health ministers from the 194-member countries that make up the assembly.
“We are here to do two things; celebrate the 76th
anniversary of the World Health Organisation and also attend the World Health
Assembly of Ministers of Health. We will be meeting with different groups from
the global fund of the UNAIDS and other health stakeholders. So we have come
with a delegation of experts in the health sector and other dependent. This is
going to run until the 29th of May,” he said.
With the COVID-19 pandemic no longer a health emergency,
the 76th World Health Assembly will provide a platform for health ministers and
experts to share notes on how to navigate future health emergencies.
“The focus of this assembly is to look forward to how the
international global health community can come together as one and mobilise and
coordinate so that the world is better prepared to handle this health emergency
should it arise again in the future. So this meeting will give all 194 member
states a chance to look back and learn the lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic
and then plan for the future to make sure that even when such another emergency
arises that the world is better prepared and from an African perspective there
has been a lot of work done by the African union commission and the African
centre for disease control have been working very hard with the world health
organisation to try and put mechanism and to raise funds and resources to
strengthen health care systems across the world and we are very much part of
that,” explained Zimbabwe’s permanent representative to the United Nations,
Ambassador Stuart Comberbach.
The World Health Assembly is the decision-making body of
the World Health Organisation (WHO).
It is attended by delegations from all WHO member states
and focuses on current and future priorities for public health issues of global
importance. ZBC
