World Health Assembly highlights: avian flu, polio eradication, HIV/AIDS, IPR

The World Health Assembly, the supreme decision-making body of the World Health Organization, concluded its 59th session on May 27 in a week that began with the death of its Director General Lee Jong-wook (Marketletter May 29). More than 2,200 people from WHO's 192 member states, non-governmental organizations and other observers attended the gathering.

IHR implementation speeded up

Highlights of the Assembly included the agreement to voluntarily implement parts of the International Health Regulations immediately, in particular those which relate to avian influenza and to a potential pandemic of human influenza. The provisions identified for early voluntary compliance include those relating to rapid and transparent notification, support to countries that request it in investigating and controlling outbreaks, and providing essential information including recommendations for control measures. The IHR (2005) were formally adopted at the WHA in 2005 and are to go into effect in 2007.