Nutrition and a new Director-General at the 70th World Health Assembly

In her final opening address to the World Health Assembly as Director-General, Dr Margaret Chan offered some advice to delegates “as you continue to shape the future of this Organization”. She called on the Health Assembly to make “reducing inequalities” a guiding ethical principle. “WHO stands for fairness,” she said. Countries should also work to improve collection of health data and make health strategies more accountable. Photo credit: WHO/L. Cipriani

From 22-31 May 2017, the 70^th World Health Assembly (WHA) took place in Geneva, Switzerland, bringing together Ministers of Health and delegates from across the World Health Organization’s (WHO) 191 Member States.

On 23 May, Member States of WHO elected Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus as the new Director-General of WHO. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was nominated by the Government of Ethiopia, and will begin his five-year term on 1 July 2017. Download the Press Release | Read short biography

The WHA, which endorses the six global targets for improving maternal, infant and young child nutrition, and the WHO Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of NCDs 2013-2020, made significant progress on the nutrition agenda.

• Brazil became the first country to make SMART commitments as part of the United Nations (UN) Decade of Action on Nutrition 2016–2025. READ MORE >
• WHO’s Ambition and Action in Nutrition 2016-2025, the first-ever strategic exercise on nutrition undertaken by WHO. READ MORE >
• The double burden of malnutrition now faces many countries worldwide – characterized by the coexistence of undernutrition along with overweight, obesity or diet-related noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Two new policy briefs: Double-duty actions for nutrition and The double burden of malnutrition launched by the WHO include effective interventions to tackle the challenge. READ MORE >
• The 2017 Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates are now available, they show that many countries are moving in the right direction but progress is slow. READ MORE >
• 25 years after its launch: The Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative report shares programme coverage and the challenges faced along the way. READ MORE >
• At a high level dinner with Health Ministers from SUN Countries, Action Contre La Faim, Global Health Advocates and Results launched a scorecard measuring progress to eliminate malnutrition. READ MORE >

View the final news release: English | Français | Español

Watch the webcasts: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/events/2017/wha70/webstreaming/en/

View the nutrition relevant discussions in the agenda items: Countdown to the 70th World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland