7 May 2018: The World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) have signed a five-year agreement to cooperate on helping countries achieve the 2030 Agenda’s health-related targets. WHO is also launching the largest-ever immunization drive against cholera, and is calling for more attention to mental health as one of the world’s most neglected health issues. Meanwhile, the UN International Children’s Fund (UNICEF) used the occasion of World Immunization Week in April to highlight that one-quarter of deaths of children under five relate to vaccine-preventable diseases, while the UN General Assembly has agreed to hold a high-level meeting to review progress on preventing non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
The WHO-UNDP agreement, announced on 4 May, will focus on strengthening the capacity of health systems (SDG 3.C and 3.D), addressing the social, economic and environmental determinants of health (SDG 3.9, among other targets), and working towards universal health coverage (SDG 3.8). WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus highlighted the link of health to development, for example, through reducing poverty (SDG 1), creating jobs (SDG 8), and promoting gender equality (SDG 5).
On 7 May, WHO announced it will vaccinate two million people across Africa against cholera by the end of June, more than doubling the number of cholera vaccines administered in the 15 years from 1997-2015. The Vaccine Alliance, a public-private partnership otherwise known as Gavi, is providing the vaccines, which are being given in Malawi, Nigeria, South Sudan, Uganda and Zambia. Haiti and Zambia will propose a resolution at the World Health Assembly in May, which will call for increased investment in clean water, sanitation and hygiene (SDG 6) to help end cholera outbreaks.
World Vaccination Week, from 24-30 April, highlighted the gains made worldwide in child immunization coverage, with big achievements especially in India, Mexico, the Philippines, Sudan and Viet Nam. However, UNICEF noted that around 1.4 million deaths of children under five, many in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Nigeria and Pakistan, relate to lack of immunization, especially from diarrhea, measles and pneumonia. The main reason for missing routine immunizations is living in fragile or conflict-affected countries, for instance, vaccination coverage regressed the most in Syria between 2010 and 2016.
Meanwhile, the UN General Assembly has agreed to hold a one-day high-level meeting to review efforts on non-communicable diseases (NCDs, SDG 3.4) on 27 September 2018 in New York. Their decision of 16 April (resolution 72/274) agreed that the theme of the meeting would be ‘Scaling up multi-stakeholder and multi-sectoral responses for the prevention and control of NCDs in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.’
At a roundtable discussion on 2 May, organized by WHO and the Wellcome Trust, UN Secretary-General António Guterres observed that mental health issues affect one in four people, and that the issue remains “largely neglected,” despite its common occurrence. UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed addressed participants, highlighting the relevance of equality and basic individual rights (SDGs 5 and 10) to mental health, and calling for increased investment in this area.
WHO also released updated global guidelines on dietary fats in May, urging people and governments everywhere to reduce consumption of saturated and transfats, often referred to as ‘hydrogenated’ vegetable oil. Francesco Branca, nutrition director at WHO, called on governments to ensure that manufactured products do not use transfats, to reduce the rate of cardiovascular disease related to their over-consumption. [UNDP Press Release] [UN Press Release on Routine Immunizations] [UN Press Release on Cholera Immunization Drive] [UN Press Release on Transfats] [Announcement of NCDs Meeting] [UN Press Release on Mental Health]