Dr Harsh Vardhan Chairs 74th World Health Assembly

The 74th session of World Health Assembly (WHA) has been organised virtually from 24 May to 1 June 2021.
WHA is the decision-making body of World Health Organization (WHO).
Theme of WHA74: Ending this pandemic, preventing the next: building together a healthier, safer and fairer world.
As the Chairman of WHO Executive Board, Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of India, addressed the Assembly on 24 May.
He summarized the highlights of the 147th and 148th sessions of the Executive Board and its Special Session on COVID-19 response that was held on October 5 and 6, 2020.
The 74th World Health Assembly elected Dechen Wangmo, Bhutan’s Minister of Health, as the President of WHA.
Apart from this 5 vice president of WHA were also elected which includes Benin, Estonia, Guatemala, Mongolia, Qatar.

About WHA

The World Health Assembly is held annually in Geneva, Switzerland. However, in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the assembly is taking place virtually this year.
It is attended by senior health officials from Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO).
WHA focuses on a specific health agenda, for discussion, prepared by the Executive Board.
At WHA, work is reviewed, new goals are set, and new tasks assigned.
Oher functions of the WHA are to determine the policies of WHO, appoint the Director-General, supervise financial policies, and review and approve the proposed program budget.