Interior Minister Didier Burkhalter has called for the World Health Organization (WHO) to be reformed.
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In his opening address at the 64th World Health Assembly in Geneva, Burkhalter said he wanted to see greater cooperation between sectors at the United Nations health body and new mechanisms to enable this.
He also stressed the importance of working to prevent non-transmissible diseases, deaths from which, he warned, were set to rise by 15 per cent globally between 2010 and 2020.
“We cannot just sit back and watch the significant increase in obesity, diabetes and other chronic diseases without acting to improve prevention and health systems,” he told more than 1,500 delegates from 193 member states.
The Health Assembly on Monday began its annual review of the activities of the WHO. It will set new priorities for the future and will discuss specific health topics such as child health, chronic diseases, malaria and maternal health, as well as the programme budget, administration and management matters of the WHO.
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