During the opening of the seventy-sixth edition of the World Assembly for Health, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health Chris Fearne was appointed President of the Assembly.
This was done through a unanimous vote in favor of the Deputy Prime Minister by the representatives of the 194 Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO), after Chris Fearne was the nominee for this position of the European Region.
The Deputy Prime Minister is the first Maltese to occupy this prestigious position, with the first official duty being the management of this annual Assembly, which is considered a key event for the management of the WHO, where the Member States determine the Organization’s priorities and policy for the coming year.
In the first reaction after his official appointment, Chris Fearne said that during his term, he will focus on the need for new medicines to be accessible to all peoples of the world at the same time. “We are seeing small countries being at a disadvantage when it comes to the introduction of these innovative medicines on the local market. Therefore, Malta will be at the forefront to make an impact on the health of all peoples around the world” repeated Fearne.
He stressed that this year is important for the World Health Organization as it marks the seventy-fifth anniversary of its establishment. “The more the political, economic, social and environmental situations around the world are getting worse, the more they are affecting the health services and the health of the people around the world and that is why the World Health Organization is being more vocal and more present” claimed Chris Fearne.
He will serve as President of the World Health Assembly for a term of one year, while continuing his work as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health in Malta.
On the margins of the Assembly, bilateral meetings are also being held with the Deputy Prime Minister, with the first meetings being with the Director General of the WHO, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and with the Deputy Minister of the National Commission for Health for China Dr. Cao Xuetao.
