UHC Forward: Towards Universal Health Coverage

Below is a roundup of the main events taking place during the Sixty-fifth World Health Assembly:

First Plenary

Opening Session

Dr. Christos Patsalides opened the Sixty-fifth World Health Assembly (WHA) and welcomed, on behalf of the Assembly and the World Health Organization (WHO), special guests: Mr. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Director-General of the United Nations (UN) office in Geneva, and representative of the Secretary-General fo the United Nationa, H.E. Federal Councillor Alain Berset, Head of the Department of City and University of Geneva, and of agencies of the UN system, as well as representatives of the Executive Board.

President Patsalides called on Mr. Tokayev to address the Assembly. The President then gave the floor to H.E. Berset, Head of the Department of Home Affairs of the Swiss Confederation.

Appointment of the Committee on Credentials

In accordance with Rule 23 of the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, the Assembly appointed the Committee on Credentials constituted by the delegates of the following 12 member states:

• Guyana
• Kyrgyzstan
• Luxembourg
• Malawi
• Marshall Islands
• Mexico
• Niger
• San Marino
• Sao Tome and Principe
• Thailand
• United Arab Emirates
• Vietnam

Election of the President and Vice-Presidents of the Sixty-fifth World Health Assembly

The President invited the Assembly to consider the list of names of delegates proposed for the nominations of President and five Vice-Presidents of the Sixty-fifth WHA. The Assembly approved the namination of Professor Therese N'Dri-Yoman (Cote d'Ivoire) and elected her as President of the Sixty-fifth WHA. At this time, Prof. N'Dri-Yoman took over as President and Chair of the Assembly.

The President invited the Assembly to consider the proposals received for the nomination for the offices of Vice-Presidents. The following delegates were elected by proclamation of the Assembly:

• Dr. Esperanza Martinez (Paraguay)
• Mr. Andrei Usatii (Republic of Moldova)
• Dr. Ali Ghufron Mukti (Indonesia)
• Dr. Suraya Dalil (Afghanistan)
• Mr. Charles Sigoto (Solomon Islands)

Committee A: Dr. Zangley Dukpa (Bhutan) elected chairman.

Committee B: Dr. Mohammad Hossein Nickham (Islamic Republic of Iran) was elected chairman.

Elected members of the General Committee:

• Bahamas
• Cambodia
• Chad
• China
• Cuba
• Denmark
• Djibouti
• France
• Kenya
• Lesotho
• Liberia
• Mauritania
• Nicaragua
• Russion Federation
• Turkmenistan
• United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
• United States of America

Second Plenary

The President of the Sixty-fifth WHA, Prof. Therese N'Dri-Yoman, opened the second plenary session and addressed the Assembly. Adoption of agenda and allocation of items to the main committees.

Third Plenary

Address by Dr. Margaret Chan, Director General

The Director-General presented her report on the work of the WHO.

The President resumed consideration of Item 3 with a special attention to the theme "Towards universal coverage". The President invited the first two speakers to the rostrum: the delegate from Tunisia who spoke on behalf of the Arab Ministers Council and the delegate from the Congo who spoke on behalf of the member states of the African Region. These speakers were followed by the delegates of Canada, Denmark, Thailand, China, Islamic Republic of Iran, [Nigeria](http://uhcforward.org/nigeria, Brazil, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, India, United States of America, Brunei Darussalam, South Africa, Finland, Italy, Kenya, Germany, Singapore, Norway, Australia, Mexico, Ukraine, Zimbabwe, Cuba, and the Philippines.