Readout of Secretary Price’s Second Day in Geneva for World Health Assembly

On Monday, May 22, Secretary Price participated in the opening activities of the 70^th World Health Assembly (WHA). The Secretary participated in several events throughout the day – including one on antimicrobial resistance, a top concern for public health officials; an event sponsored by the U.S. Delegation on international health regulations and how nations can and should assess their health security capacities; an event highlighting the critical role of public-private partnerships in addressing global health security; and an event on strengthening access to essential surgical and anesthesia care, particularly in underserved parts of the world.

Secretary Price held individual meetings with public health officials from India, Uganda, Canada, Italy, and Sweden – providing opportunities for one-on-one discussions about existing and the potential for future collaboration on global health security and to reconfirm the United States’ commitment to such efforts.

As the head of the U.S. Delegation to the WHA, Secretary Price delivered an address to the Assembly that highlighted public health challenges facing the world and the role of the United States in helping to solve them:

"We want to emphasize today just how committed the United States is to a cooperative, transparent and effective international response to outbreaks of infectious disease. These threats do not respect borders between countries, and can spread rapidly to endanger people anywhere around the globe. We expect the next Director-General and WHO Health Emergencies Program to prioritize threats to global health, including influenza. We will work to enable all countries around the world to prevent, detect, respond to, mitigate, and control these outbreaks.”

Click here to read Secretary Price’s full remarks.