The role of parliamentarians inmoving the global health agenda forward

By IPU

The disruptive shock of the COVID-19 pandemic has sharpened global awareness of the value of health and the need of a coordinated global response, including through a stronger WHO.

Health remains a political choice, where political leaders, including parliamentarians have a critical role to play. The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the global organization of parliaments, promotes parliamentary engagement on global health in close collaboration with WHO.

In the “super-election year” 2024 – during which almost half of the world’s population will cast its vote – it is critical to ensure that health remains a priority in the political agendas around the world.

In this context, the session will discuss the importance of understanding global health as a central issue and the imperative of learning from the COVID-19 experience and strengthening global health governance mechanisms, including through a global pandemic agreement and a strong WHO.

The session will discuss the importance of including parliamentarians in key global health fora, such as the World Health Assembly (WHA), given the critical role they play in legislating, deciding on health budget, keeping governments accountable for commitments taken, and representing people’s interest, including on health. This is particularly true when it comes to the discussion around international tools, like the pandemic accord, or when decisions related to budget are involved, such as the issue of sustainable financing for WHO.

The dialogue aims at discussing key priorities and main negotiations of the 77th World Health Assembly, including a focus on the pandemic agreement and sustainable financing for WHO and the WHO Investment Round. The focus will also be on how parliaments can move the global health agenda forward at the national level and engage with health stakeholders at different levels to ensure better health for all The event will draw on lessons learnt from the IPU-WHO long-term collaboration and the importance of maintaining a constant dialogue between policy and science.