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Thursday, 30 May 2024
Seventy-seventh World Health Assembly – Daily update: 30 May 2024
Delegates approve groundbreaking new agreement on transplantation
On 29 May 2024, Member States (with the initiation of Spain) approved a new resolution on increasing availability, ethical access and oversight of transplantation of human cells, tissues and organs.
Transplantation is a life-saving treatment. The latest data of 2022 from the Global Observatory on Donation and Transplantation [https://www.transplant-observatory.org/] indicate that more than 150 000 solid organ transplants (? 10% of global needs) are performed worldwide annually, which is an increase of 52% compared with 2010.
However, there is still an apparent insufficient growth in and asymmetrical development of transplantation worldwide with many countries not having established the appropriate systems, including legislation, governance, specialized workforce, infrastructure and financing.
Lack of availability and equitable access to transplantation may lead to death or unethical or illegal practices such as transplant tourism and organ trafficking. The resolution aims to improve the availability of transplantation, especially in countries with limited resources.
The resolution aims to introduce measures to prevent and combat trafficking in people for the purpose of organ removal and trafficking in human organs, and to protect victims and survivors of these crimes by strengthening legislative frameworks.
Member States committed to take a set of actions including integrating donation and transplantation activities into health-care systems, so that deceased donation is routinely considered as an option at the end of life, and living donors are protected from exploitation and provided with proper follow-up care.
WHO is tasked to develop a global strategy on donation and transplantation, to be presented to the Assembly for adoption in 2026. WHO should also examine establishing a World Donor Day to raise public awareness and enhance understanding on the need for altruistic donation of human cells, tissues and organs.
Related links A77/49 [https://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/WHA77/A77_49-en.pdf] Second report of Committee A WHO’s work on transplantation [https://www.who.int/health-topics/transplantation] New global action plan for infection prevention and control agreed
On 29 May 2024, delegates at the Seventy-seventh World Health Assembly endorsed a new Global action plan and monitoring framework for infection prevention and control (IPC) for 2024–2030. The plan provides clear actions, indicators, and targets to support Member States in improving national- and facility-level IPC actions.
Recent history has demonstrated how outbreaks such as Ebola and COVID-19 spreading in communities can be dramatically amplified in health-care settings when there are gaps in IPC measures. Infections acquired in health-care settings, including those that exhibit antimicrobial resistance (AMR), cause avoidable suffering to patients, and increase the burden on health systems.
IPC interventions such as hand hygiene, and ensuring access to high-quality water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services can reduce the risk of health care-associated infections (HAIs) by up to 70% and have a high economic return on investment.
Delegates reiterated their commitment to strengthen IPC programmes, noting that the action plan will require firm political commitment, dedicated financing and sustained implementation.
The plan will be supported by a detailed implementation guide and other resources, including costing tools. Full implementation of the global action plan can enable the attainment of the goal that everyone has access to health care that is safe from HAIs by 2030.
The WHO Secretariat is requested to report to the Assembly on implementation progress biennially from 2025.
Related links A77/4 [https://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/WHA77/A77_4-en.pdf] Consolidated Report by the Director-General EB154/8 [https://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/EB154/B154_8-en.pdf] Draft global action plan for infection prevention and control WHO’s work on infection prevention and control [https://www.who.int/health-topics/infection-prevention-and-control]
Countries commit to recover lost progress in maternal, newborn and child survival
Alarmed by the stagnation of progress in reducing maternal and child mortality, countries today passed a critical Resolution committing to specific actions to prevent deaths of women, babies and children.
Annually, 287 000 women die in pregnancy or childbirth, 4.9 million children die of largely preventable causes before their fifth birthday, and there are 1.9 million stillbirths. Progress in reducing maternal deaths has stalled [https://www.who.int/news/item/23-02-2023-a-woman-dies-every-two-minutes-due-to-pregnancy-or-childbirth–un-agencies] since 2016, while survival gains for newborns and young children have lost pace.
This new resolution commits to tackling the leading causes of maternal and child deaths, especially in the worst affected countries, while improving access to maternal, sexual and reproductive and comprehensive child health services through stronger primary health care. It further highlights the need to expand access to emergency services including urgent obstetric care and small and sick newborn units, which are critical to manage complications associated with prematurity and other leading causes of newborn deaths.
The resolution emphasized that health systems must be enabled to deliver quality, safe and effective care, through well-stocked facilities, well-trained and motivated health workers, and safe water and sanitation. The resolution also stresses the need for comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care services, including family planning, that underpin women’s health.
At current rates of progress, more than 4 out of 5 countries are likely to fall short on the Sustainable Development Goals’ maternal mortality targets; 64 countries for newborn mortality; and 59 countries for under-five child mortality. Current rates of decline in maternal mortality would need to be accelerated nine times, and newborn and under-five mortality four times to achieve these targets. Member States have committed to report back on this resolution every two years.
Related links A77/A/CONF./5 [https://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/WHA77/A77_ACONF5-en.pdf] Accelerate progress towards reducing maternal, newborn and child mortality in order to achieve Sustainable Development Goal targets 3.1 and 3.2 A77/A/CONF./5 Add.1 [https://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/WHA77/A77_ACONF5Add1-en.pdf] Financial and administrative implications for the Secretariat of resolutions proposed for adoption by the Health AssemblyNew resolution on antimicrobial resistance to mobilize action
Today, delegates approved a resolution to accelerate national and global responses on antimicrobial resistance (AMR), ahead of the second UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting (HLM) on AMR to take place in September 2024.
AMR is an urgent global health and socioeconomic challenge. An estimated [https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)02724-0/fulltext] 1.3 million global deaths per year are attributable to drug-resistant bacterial infections. AMR threatens people of all ages, in all regions, with low- and middle-income countries most affected.
Under the broad concept of a people-centred approach, the resolution welcomes the WHO strategic and operational priorities to address drug-resistant bacterial infections in the human health sector (2025–2035), with the four strategic priorities of: prevention of infections; universal access to affordable, quality diagnosis and appropriate treatment of infections; strategic information, science and innovation; and effective governance and financing of the human health sector response to AMR.
The resolution urges Member States to apply these priorities and implement the core package of country-level interventions through their AMR national action plans. Areas of focus include the governance, funding, implementation and monitoring of national action plans, and the development of a concise and action-oriented, consensus-based political declaration for adoption at the HLM.
The resolution also requests the Director-General to provide a status update and guidance to countries in preparation for the HLM on AMR. WHO is committed to provide technical support to expedite national responses to AMR and to develop progress reports on the resolution’s implementation.
Related links A77/A/CONF./1 [https://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/WHA77/A77_ACONF1-en.pdf] Committee A Conference Paper: Antimicrobial resistance: accelerating national and global responses UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting on antimicrobial resistance 2024 [https://www.who.int/news-room/events/detail/2024/09/26/default-calendar/un-general-assembly-high-level-meeting-on-antimicrobial-resistance-2024] Leaders discuss how artificial intelligence is transforming health