Richard Horton writes today in The Lancet: 'When one reads the three Political Declarations published to coincide with High-Level Meetings at the UN General Assembly in New York this week — on pandemic prevention, universal health coverage (UHC), and tuberculosis — one cannot help but be struck by the bland, indeed narcotic, nature of the language agreed by ministerial negotiating teams. These Declarations say nothing new. They offer no fresh commitments. They recycle ancient promises. Even worse, they are riven with clichés and lies.' https://www.un.org/pga/77/wp-content/uploads/sites/105/2023/09/UHC-Final...
WHO's own news item on the Political Declaration on UHC claims: 'In the Political Declaration, Heads of State and world leaders committed to take key national actions, make essential investments, strengthen international cooperation and global solidarity at the highest political level to accelerate progress towards UHC by 2030, using a primary health care (PHC) approach.'
https://www.who.int/news/item/21-09-2023-world-leaders-commit-to-redoubl...
I would note that information is not mentioned in the declaration, despite the assertion by the WHO Deputy Director-General who coauthored a paper a few months ago titled 'Universal health information is essential for universal health coverage' https://fmch.bmj.com/content/11/2/e002090
Were any HIFA members present at the high-level meeting? Would you like to share your observations?
Best wishes, Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org
