Journal No. 9   30 May 2023

This journal is intended to give delegates, representatives and other participants advance indications of the Health Assembly’s tentative programme of work. Additional information can be found in the Guide for delegates to the World Health Assembly (document A76/DIV./2)

The Journal does not constitute an official record of the Health Assembly’s proceedings. The Journal is published in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish on every working day during the Health Assembly.

N° 9 Programme of meetings

Time	Plenary Room XIX	Committee A Room XX
09:00		Fourteenth meeting
Immediately after conclusion of Committee A	Ninth meeting

Table of contents

1. Date and working hours

2. Programme of work of the Health Assembly

3. Report of meetings

4. Other meetings

5. Arrangements for conduct of discussion in meetings

6. Announcements

Please note the following administrative arrangements:

Badges for Members of the Board, their alternates and advisers, and representatives of Member States and organizations invited to attend, will be issued at:

-  Palais des Nations on Tuesday, 30 May 2023 from 08:00 until the closure of the Assembly

-  WHO headquarters on Wednesday, 31 May to Thursday, 1 June 2023 from 08:00 until the closure of the Executive Board session.

1.  Date and working hours

The working hours of the Health Assembly are from 09:00 to 12:00 and 14:30 to 17:30 (CEST).

The Health Assembly will close no later than Tuesday, 30 May 2023, as decided by the Executive Board at its 152nd session.

2. Programme of work of the Health Assembly

Tuesday, 30 May 2023

Fourteenth meeting of Committee A — Building E Room XX

09:00

Draft fifth report of Committee A

Document (draft) A76/59 containing one resolution entitled:

-  Behavioural sciences for better health

Review of and update on matters considered by the Executive Board

·  Item 15.3 continued

Global Health for Peace Initiative

-  Documents A76/7 Rev.1 Add.2 and A76/7 Rev.1 Add.3

Finalization of resolutions/decisions and reports

Ninth Plenary meeting — Building E Room XIX

Immediately after conclusion of Committee A

Reports of the main committees

Draft first report of Committee A

Document (Draft) A76/50 containing one resolution entitled:

-  Programme budget 2024-2025

Draft first report of Committee B

Document (Draft) A76/51 containing one decision entitled:

-  Health conditions in the occupied Palestinian territory, including east Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan

Draft second report of Committee A

Document (Draft) A76/52 containing one decision entitled:

-  Health emergency in Ukraine and refugee-receiving and -hosting countries, stemming from the Russian Federation’s aggression

Draft second report of Committee B

Document (Draft) A76/54 containing six decisions entitled:

-  Results Report 2022 (Programme budget 2022–2023: performance assessment) and Financial report and audited financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2022

-  Report of the External Auditor

-  Reform of the global internship programme

-  Appointment of representatives to the WHO Staff Pension Committee

-  Report of the Agile Member States Task Group on Strengthening WHO’s Budgetary, Programmatic and Financing Governance

-  Sustainable financing: feasibility of a replenishment mechanism, including options for consideration

and six resolutions entitled:

-  Scale of assessments for 2024–2025

-  Amendments to the Financial Regulations and Financial Rules

-  Status of collection of assessed contributions, including Member States in arrears in the payment of their contributions to an extent that would justify invoking Article 7 of the Constitution

-  Housing allowance for the Director-General

-  Salaries of staff in ungraded positions and of the Director-General

-  Report of the International Civil Service Commission

Draft third report of Committee A

Document (draft) A76/56 containing four resolutions entitled:

-  Integrated emergency, critical and operative care for universal health coverage and protection from health emergencies

-  Increasing access to medical oxygen

-  Preparation for the high-level meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on universal health coverage

-  Strengthening diagnostics capacity

and one decision entitled:

-  Political declaration of the third high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases, and mental health

Draft third report of Committee B

Document (Draft) A76/55 containing two decisions entitled:

-  Extension of the WHO traditional medicine strategy: 2014-2023 to 2025

-  Voluntary Health Trust Fund for small island developing States (terms of reference)

and one resolution entitled:

-  Extension of the WHO global action plan on promoting the health of refugees and migrants, 2019-2023 to 2030

Draft fourth report of Committee A

Document (draft) A76/57 containing two decisions entitled:

-  Substandard and falsified medical products

-  Global strategy on infection prevention and control

and one resolution entitled:

-  Strengthening rehabilitation in health systems

Draft fourth report of Committee B

Document (draft) A76/58 containing two decisions entitled:

-  Achieving well-being: a draft global framework for integrating well-being into public health utilizing a health promotion approach

-  Social determinants of health

and five resolutions entitled:

-  Appointment of the External Auditor

-  The health of Indigenous Peoples

-  The impact of chemicals, waste and pollution on human health

-  Accelerating action on global drowning prevention

-  Accelerating efforts for preventing micronutrient deficiencies and their consequences, including spina bifida and other neural tube defects, through safe and effective food fortification

Closure of the Health Assembly

3. Report of meetings

Thirteenth meeting of Committee A

In the Chair:
Dr Jalila bint Al Sayyed Jawad Hassan (Bahrain)

Draft fourth report of Committee A

The Chair opened the meeting and called upon the Secretariat to read out the Draft fourth report of Committee A, Document (draft) A76/57 containing two decisions entitled:

-  Substandard and falsified medical products

-  Global strategy on infection prevention and control

and one resolution entitled:

-  Strengthening rehabilitation in health systems

The decisions and resolution were approved and the fourth report of Committee A was adopted.

Review of and update on matters considered by the Executive Board

·  Item 16.4

The highest attainable standard of health for persons with disabilities

·  Item 16.6

Behavioural sciences for better health

The Chair opened the group of agenda items and drew the Committee’s attention to the relevant document A76/7 Rev.1.

The Chair gave the floor to the representative of the Executive Board to make some introductory remarks and invited comments from the floor.

The Secretariat responded to issues raised.

At the invitation of the Chair, the WHO Director-General Dr Tedros addressed the Committee.

The Committee noted the relevant sections of the report contained in documents A76/7 Rev.1 and approved the draft resolution entitled ‘Behavioural sciences for better health’ contained in decision EB152(23), document EB152/2023/REC/1 under subitem 16.6 thus closing the agenda item.

Committee A was closed.

Ninth meeting of Committee B

In the Chair:
Dr Carlos Alvarenga Cardoza (El Salvador)

Audit and oversight matters

·  Item 20.4

Appointment of the External Auditor

The Chair opened the agenda subitem and drew the Committee’s attention to the relevant documents A76/25, A76/25 Add.1 and A76/25 Add.2.  The Chair invited the two candidates for the position of External Auditor (India and United Republic of Tanzania) to make their presentations.  In accordance with Rule 80 of the Rules of Procedure of the World Health Assembly, a vote by secret ballot was held.  The result of the vote was:

177 Members entitled to vote, 20 Members absent, 1 abstention, 0 ballots null and void, 156 Members present and voting. Majority required: 79. India: 114. United Republic of Tanzania: 42.

The draft resolution contained in document A76/25 was approved, thereby appointing Comptroller and Auditor-General of India as External Auditor of the accounts of the World Health Organization.

The agenda item was closed.

Review of and update on matters considered by the Executive Board

·   Item 16.1 continued

Well-being and health promotion

·  Item 16.2 continued

Ending violence against children through health systems strengthening and multisectoral approaches

·  Item 16.3 continued

Social determinants of health

·  Item 16.5 continued

United Nations Decade of Action on Nutrition (2016−2025)

The Chair reopened this grouping of agenda items and invited comments from the floor.  The Chair invited Dr Jarbas Barbosa, WHO Regional Director for the Americas, to take the floor. The Secretariat responded to issues raised and the Committee noted the relevant sections of the report contained in document A76/7 Rev.1.

The Committee approved the draft decisions contained in documents A76/7 Add.2 and A76/7 Rev.1 Add.1, the draft resolutions contained in documents A76/A/CONF./1 and A76/A/CONF./2, and the draft resolutions recommended by the Executive Board in decisions EB152(12) and EB152(13) contained in document EB152/2023/REC/1.

The grouped agenda items were closed.

Draft fourth report of Committee B

The Chair called upon the Rapporteur (Ms Lucy Cassels [New Zealand]) to read out the draft fourth report of Committee B, document (draft) A76/58 containing two decisions entitled:

-  Achieving well-being: a draft global framework for integrating well-being into public health utilizing a health promotion approach

-  Social determinants of health

and five resolutions entitled:

-  Appointment of the External Auditor

-  The health of Indigenous Peoples

-  The impact of chemicals, waste and pollution on human health

-  Accelerating action on global drowning prevention

-  Accelerating efforts for preventing micronutrient deficiencies and their consequences, including spina bifida and other neural tube defects, through safe and effective food fortification

The resolutions and decisions were approved and the fourth report of Committee B was adopted.

In accordance with Rule 57 of the Rules of Procedure, the delegations of Israel and Palestine exercised the right of reply.

Committee B was closed.

4. Other meetings

The Secretariat has been advised that the following meetings will take place during the Seventy-sixth World Health Assembly. This represents information received up to 29 May 2023:

Tuesday, 30 May 2023

08:15–08:50 Room XXVI

Meeting of the delegations of Member States of the WHO European Region.

13:00–14:30 Room XXV

Coordination meeting of the European Union.

5. Arrangements for conduct of discussion in meetings

Member State delegations are asked to observe the time limit for verbal statements during the sessions. Plenary: individual statements by Member States and Associate Members will be limited to three minutes (330 words), Regional and group statements will be limited to four minutes (440 words).
Committees A & B: individual statements by Member States and Associate Members will be limited to three minutes (330 words), Regional and group statements will be limited to five minutes (550 words).

Delegations providing group statements are discouraged from taking the floor subsequently to provide a national statement. In addition, delegations on whose behalf a group statement is provided, are discouraged from subsequently taking the floor except to provide any brief additional comments that were not covered by the group statement.

Statements by Observers, invited representatives of the United Nations and other participating intergovernmental organizations will be limited to two minutes (220 words). Statements by non-State actors in official relations with the Organization will be limited to one minute and three minutes for constituency statements.

To ensure that statements are interpreted as clearly as possible, delegates are requested to submit a copy of their statements at least one hour in advance by email to interpret@who.int.

Member States and Associate Members are invited to submit written statements for posting on the website in the language of submission in accordance with the guidelines for written statements in decision EB149(3). Delegates wishing to have their statements posted on the Health Assembly webpage or to share a longer statement containing additional information may send it to statements@who.int.

Observers, invited representatives of the United Nations and of other participating and intergovernmental organizations are also invited to submit written statements in accordance with those guidelines. Non-State actors are invited to submit written statements as per the practical information for representatives of non-State actors in official relations with WHO.

In accordance with the guidelines, statements may be provided in any of the six WHO official languages and should be limited to 500 words for individual statements and 800 words for group statements. They should be submitted to statements@who.int, clearly indicating the relevant agenda item or subitem in the subject line. Non-State actors are asked to submit their statements to nsastatements@who.int.

Interpretation will be provided in the official languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish) to help delegates to follow the discussions. Delegates are requested to speak clearly and at a normal speaking pace to enable clear and accurate interpretation. Copies of all statements should be submitted at least one hour in advance by email to interpret@who.int. Clearly indicate the agenda item and name of the country delegation/group in the subject line of the email.      

Note: a statement of three minutes at normal speaking pace is equivalent to approximately 330 words.

6. Announcements

For IT support, please send an email to GBS-IT-Support@who.int.          

The sessions will be webcast in the six UN languages. The webcasts can be viewed on Mac and PCs, as well as all mobile devices including iPhone, iPad, Android and Windows-enabled phones.

Arabic:            https://player.4am.ch/who/20230521-30_WHA76/index.html?lang=ar

Chinese:         https://player.4am.ch/who/20230521-30_WHA76/index.html?lang=zh
English:           https://player.4am.ch/who/20230521-30_WHA76/index.html?lang=en

French:           https://player.4am.ch/who/20230521-30_WHA76/index.html?lang=fr

Russian:          https://player.4am.ch/who/20230521-30_WHA76/index.html?lang=ru

Spanish:         https://player.4am.ch/who/20230521-30_WHA76/index.html?lang=es

The World Health Assembly application allows you to receive updates on the WHA76 programme of work and access documentation directly on your mobile device. Search for “WHO Events” in the Apple or Google Stores.

Documents for the Seventy-sixth World Health Assembly can be accessed on the Internet through the WHO website (https://apps.who.int/gb/e/e_wha76.html) or scan the QR code below:

The WHO bookshop is located at the Palais des Nations on level 2 of the E building, at door 40, during the World Health Assembly. The latest publications and information products issued by WHO and its regional offices are available at a 50% discount. WHO souvenirs are also on sale, including items from a special collection of souvenirs to mark the 75th anniversary of the Organization. The WHO bookshop is open from Monday to Friday and from 09:00 to 16:30 at the Palais des Nations (during the Assembly) and at WHO Headquarters.

 

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