The World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, last week marked the 75th time that the Member States joined together to work towards creating a healthier world. From the worldwide pandemic caused by Covid-19,to the new proliferation of monkeypox throughout the globe, the world powers certainly need to come together to fight disease around the globe.

 

One pressing need that this Assembly tackled this year was the need for an integration of information. The members asked that terms and codes be made similar and available to all Member States, through the Medical Devices Information System (MEDEVIS). They asked the Secretariat to link MEDEVIS to other WHO electronic platforms, such as the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11). Connecting the world will aid in emergency preparedness, offering more access to the medical devices, and improving patient safety around the globe. Without a standard across the globe, there is more room for error and there will ultimately be more problems creating a universal medical language.

 

The lack of a common medical device language impedes traceability, causes confusion among medical professionals, and leads to subpar medical care. In fact, a full 75 countries have no nomenclature at all. This Assembly has vowed to keep everyone in the conversation, and in doing so will help to bring the world together medically speaking.

 

The World Health Assembly also approved a ‘Global Strategy on Infection Prevention and Control through a resolution that aims to position IPCas central to infectious hazard and health emergency preparedness and response. Healthcare associated infections and antimicrobial resistance are large-scale health problems that need to be dealt with, and this will strengthen safety methods for both patients and workers.

The resolution includes 13 recommendations to Member States on prevention and response and will serve as a key component to global health moving forward. The current statistics are grim, as the report states that “15 out of 100 people visiting a healthcare facility will leave it with a new infection, and estimating that half the world’s health facilities lack basic water supplies.”

The report highlights harm to patients and workers, as well as pointed strategies for improvement, which are still of the utmost importance as the globe still deals with the fallout from the global pandemic.

Adnan Zai, Advisor to Berkeley Capital, said “The most pressing issue that has been the most prominent since January of 2020 has been dealing with the pandemic because it is globally a 1st, 2nd and 3rd world problem. The world has seen many challenges throughout history such as famine, world wars, economic blight. But never has a single event such a pandemic ever impacted the world like Covid-19 .”

With the strategies presented by the World Health Organization for moving forward with infectious hazards such as Covid-19, the world certainly needs to come together to combat the ever-changing pandemic.