Dear colleagues,

 

On April 30, we asked for help to ensure that the resolution on hepatitis proposed by Brazil is endorsed by the World Health Assembly. However the resolution will not be discussed next week at the WHA.

 

The World Health Assembly was cut from 9 days to 5 days because of swine flu. Swine flu will dominate the WHA agenda. Issues to be postponed to 2010 include international chemicals management, drug-resistant tuberculosis, food safety, viral hepatitis, counterfeit medical products, human organ and tissue transplantation, chagas disease, and the WHO's role and responsibilities in health research, according to Reuters.

 

Next January WHA Executive Board will discuss WHA 2010 agenda and we expect that hepatitis as well as other ‘postponed’ issues will be put back on agenda. Hopefully also language of the Brazil resolution will be improved (many people who responded to our announcement wanted to improve language substantially!). And in meantime we continue working on generating more attention to hepatitis and improving responses to hepatitis C in health settings, among people who inject drugs, people who are in prisons, men who have sex with men and other people affected.

 

For those who are coming to this year’s WHA, there will be some side meetings addressing such issues as access to medicines (organized by MSF), patents (for HIV medicines organized by UNITAID), rational use of medicines (HAI). More info: http://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/A62/A62_JourP-Rev-en.pdf

 

Thanks to all who responded to info about the hepatitis resolution and worked on reaching out governments, worked on improving text and otherwise supported the initiative. Thank you.

 

Raminta

 

Raminta Stuikyte

Eurasian Harm Reduction Network (EHRN)

Tel. +370 5 269 1600

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www.harm-reduction.org

NGO in Special Status with Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC)