With the 69th World Health Assembly (WHA) meeting in Geneva, the Institute’s Global Health Centre has been hosting a series of public events at Maison de la paix, designed to allow the public to engage with the key debates and questions surrounding this year’s WHA, such as health emergency response capabilities, universal health coverage, and the transformative agenda for health in the framework of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
On 22 May, five hundred WHA delegates attended a briefing session where Graduate Institute Professors Ilona Kickbusch and Gian Luca Burci discussed the Assembly’s processes, structures, and key issues: among them, the WHO Framework Engagement with non-State Actors, changes in health emergency management as well as the election process for the next WHO Director-General.
On 23 May, an exercise organised by the University of Geneva, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and the University of Sorbonne, simulated the outbreak of a highly infectious disease. The same day, German Minister of Health Hermann Gröhe presented Ilona Kickbusch with the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (Bundesverdienstkreuz) in recognition of her invaluable contributions to innovation in governance for global health and global health diplomacy.
Speaking about the award, Professor Kickbusch said “I am very honoured and touched. This gives great additional motivation for my work in global health”.
On 24 May, an event with Rabin Martin and Johns Hopkins University explored global efforts towards Universal Health Coverage. Mark Dybul, Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, highlighted the importance of gender equality in achieving both UHC and the SDGs.
On 26 May, key actors from academia, international health organisations and philanthropy addressed the paradigm shift which is entailed in the SDGs and the responsibility of different actors in contributing to these goals.
The Global Health Centre is the Graduate Institute’s research, training and capacity building centre focusing on global health governance and diplomacy. Lessons from this week will inform the Centre’s research and capacity building activities during the coming year.