Health minister leads delegation to 76th World Health Assembly in Geneva |25 May 2023
Health Minister Peggy Vidot during the assembly
Health Minister Peggy Vidot is leading a four-person delegation to the 76th World Health Assembly (WHA76) from May 21-30 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.
The minister is accompanied by Dr Jude Gedeon, Dr Cynthia Noshir and Ms Elsia Sinon.
Of note is that this year, the World Health Organisation (WHO) is celebrating 75 years since it was established in 1948.
Several high-level figures and dignitaries addressed the assembly at the opening ceremony. This included the President of the Swiss Confederation, the United Nations secretary general and the president of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (Fifa).
In his keynote address, WHO director general, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, traced the history of WHO and highlighted several milestone achievements in disease prevention and control.
“Although the vision of Health for All by 2000 was not realised, its spirit and ambition persisted, and today the concept of primary health care remains the bedrock of our shared commitment to universal health coverage,” said Dr Tedros.
He also took the opportunity to thank all his predecessors and mentioned at least one of their key achievements during their tenure.
Dr Tedros presented lifetime achievement awards in global health to Professor Jean-Jacques Muyembe-Tamfum who discovered the Ebola virus and Professor Peter Piot for his global health leadership.
Over the coming week, the World Health Assembly (WHA) will consider several important resolutions, spanning four main pillars; namely, universal health coverage, health emergencies, health and well-being, and more effective and efficient support of WHO to countries.
Minister Vidot, who will address the assembly during the course of the week, was also a panellist at an important side event on May 23 ‒ ‘The WHO Acceleration Plan to STOP Obesity: from endorsement at WHA 75 to execution in frontrunner countries’. This topic is highly relevant to Seychelles, given the alarming rates of overweight and obesity in both adults and children.
The minister spoke about high-level political commitment and resources needed to respond to the obesity epidemic.
On May 20, ahead of the WHA76, the Seychelles delegation attended the 35th Commonwealth Health Minister’s meeting. The ministerial statement under the umbrella ‘Getting Universal Health Coverage in the Commonwealth on track for 2030’ was approved after lengthy deliberations.
Press release from the Ministry of Health
