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UN health agency's governing body ends session with call for a global AIDS fund

UN health agency's governing body ends session with call for a global AIDS fund

Ending its annual session in Geneva today, the governing body of the World Health Organization (WHO) urged the establishment of a global fund on HIV/AIDS and health and called for collaboration with the private sector in providing antiretroviral therapy and other medicines for the pandemic.

In a resolution on the global response to HIV/AIDS, the World Health Assembly urged WHO's 191 Member States to "scale up their responses to HIV/AIDS, with particular emphasis on building up partnerships across sectors". It also called on the international community to strengthen pharmaceutical policies on generic drugs and intellectual property regimes so as to promote innovation and development of domestic industries, consistent with international law.

Another resolution highlighted the fact that one third of the human population still lacked access to essential drugs and urged Member States to promote equitable access. It requested WHO's Director-General to "stimulate the development of drugs for diseases whose burden lies predominantly in poor countries" and to enhance study of the health implications of international trade agreements.

The Assembly's adoption of a comprehensive resolution on infant and young child nutrition marked the twentieth anniversary of the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes. The resolution called on Member States to protect, promote and support exclusive breastfeeding for six months as a global public health recommendation. It also called for further independent research into the risk of HIV transmission through breastfeeding.

Adopting a resolution on tobacco, the Assembly called for increased vigilance against the influence of tobacco transnational corporations on global tobacco control. "The tobacco industry has operated for years with the expressed intention of subverting the role of governments and of the World Health Organization in implementing public health policies to combat the tobacco epidemic," the resolution said. It urged countries "to be aware of affiliations between the tobacco industry and members of their delegations."

In a resolution on global health security, the Assembly noted that cholera, meningitis, ebola, lassa fever and other epidemics continued to pose all-too-real health risks.

Among other actions, the Assembly, which charts the UN agency's course in dealing with major public health threats, adopted a zero-growth regular budget of $842.6 million for 2002-2003.