Swiss open World Health Assembly with conflict healthcare plea

Swiss Health Minister Alain Berset delivers his statement, during the opening of the 75th World Health Assembly in Geneva © Keystone / Salvatore Di Nolfi

Switzerland’s Health Minister Alain Berset has opened the 75^th World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva with a call for healthcare access to be guaranteed in conflicts, as the war in Ukraine unfolds.

The WHA is the top decision-making body of the world’s top global health agency, the World Health Organization (WHO). It began its meeting, the first one on site in three years, on Sunday afternoon.

In his speech, Berset said the assembly was being held under “exceptional circumstances”. There is a war in Europe, the minister said, referring to but not naming the war in Ukraine. He went on to denounce the “unacceptable acts” against civilians, in violation of international humanitarian law.

Health: ‘never be a target’

“Switzerland, as the guardian of the Geneva Conventions, is deeply committed to international humanitarian law. This law establishes rules to protect access to healthcare in armed conflicts. This is an essential task, which must guarantee the protection of the wounded, the sick, medical personnel and their units and means of transport. Health must never be a target,” said Berset according to the text of his speech seen by SWI swissinfo.ch.

For this reason, the minister called on all member states and parties to conflicts to honour these rules and to support programmes to prevent and stop attacks on healthcare services.

The consequences of the war on Ukraine’s local health system will be one of the main topics of the meeting of the 194 members of the WHO, which is being held under the motto “health for peace, peace for health”.

Multilateralism, Covid, reforms

The minister also stressed the importance of a strong WHO and multilateralism, saying that access to healthcare should be improved for everyone and create the preconditions for peace.

Berset also made reference to the Global Health for Peace InitiativeExternal link, which arose from a collaboration between the Sultanate of Oman and Switzerland, which will be discussed at the meeting.External link

Other topics at the meeting, which runs until May 28, include the Covid-19 pandemic and WHO reforms. These were both mentioned by Berset in his speech – highlighting the need for international solidarity in the first instance, and the importance of reforms in the second.

“We collectively understood that we need a strong @WHOExternal link with proper means, capacity and authority to support Member States, including in pandemic preparedness and response.” said Federal Councilor @alain_bersetExternal link today at #WHA75External link. #whoimpactExternal link https://t.co/Ch1EVq6A8kExternal link #WHOimpactExternal link pic.twitter.com/UTMPN7GYKdExternal link

— SwitzerlandUN (@swiss_un) May 22, 2022External link