Health adviser in Geneva for WHA

Islamabad: The PM’s Special Adviser on Health Dr. Zafar Mirza arrived in Geneva on Sunday as head of the Pakistan delegation to the World Health Assembly (WHA) that meets in the Swiss capital from Monday.

In his arrival statement, Dr. Zafar said, “In today's world, health is a shared responsibility involving equitable access to essential care and collective defense against transnational threats.” Dr. Zafar will hold important meetings with health ministers of different countries to discuss mutual cooperation in the field of health.

He will also meet the director general and the regional director of WHO, as well as heads and senior leaderships of leading donor organisations including Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria, Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation amongst others to discuss ongoing collaborative programmes aimed at improving the health and well-being of the people of Pakistan.

Dr. Zafar will present the major reform agenda of the government. “There will be an opportunity to showcase progress made in different areas alongside the challenges and approaches adopted to overcome them. Universal Health Coverage which is also the theme of this year’s World Health Assembly will be our area of focus besides efforts to align our health reforms with WHO General Programme of Work 2030,” he stated.

The World Health Assembly is the supreme decision-making forum where nations of the world converge to deliberate and devise strategies for promoting health and reducing disease burden.