During a dedicated session on EMRO’s regional flagship initiative on expanding equitable access to medical products, the WFH presented a statement welcoming the initiative’s focus on equitable access and advocating for the inclusion of inherited bleeding disorders in the noncommunicable disease (NCD), universal health coverage (UHC), and primary care national plans. The WFH also called for a member state-driven initiative to adopt a World Health Assembly (WHA) resolution on hemophilia and other inherited bleeding disorders as initiatives that would contribute to equitable access in the EMRO region and beyond.
The WHO Regional Committees meet every year to formulate policies, provide oversight for regional programs, hear progress reports, and consider, revise and endorse new initiatives. The World Health Assembly is the decision-making body of the WHO, and focuses on specific global health topics identified by the WHO’s Executive Board. Each year the WFH is invited to participate in these WHO governing body meetings in its capacity as a non-State actor—a formal status that the WFH has enjoyed since 1960s.
To read a PDF version of the full statement read by the WFH, click here.
To find out more about the advocacy work the WFH does on behalf of the global inherited bleeding disorders community, please click here.