Ebola: UN Adopts Resolution On Global Health

The UN General Assembly,
on Friday in New York unanimously adopted a resolution on global health and foreign policy, recognising the dire impact of the Ebola outbreak worldwide.
The 193-member body in the resolution, urged States to protect, promote and respect the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.
The member body also called for the consideration of health issues in the formulation of foreign policy in a holistic manner.
The representative of Norway, Mr Bjorn Bekken, introduced the draft text on behalf of Brazil, France, Indonesia, Norway, Senegal, South Africa and Thailand.
Bekken said the resolution called for the safety of medical and health personnel, notably the Ebola outbreak which had disproportionately affected health workers, leaving 350 dead.
Recognising those health workers’ efforts in West Africa, he maintained that they were the heroes in the fight against the disease.
“It is therefore fitting that just yesterday, Time Magazine announced that these health workers, the Ebola fighters, were named their Person of the Year.
“They are the heroes in the fight against Ebola, as they often at great personal risk are at the frontline in the efforts to stop this outbreak,” he said.
Bekken said this year’s resolution called for the safety of medical and health personnel, including in conflict situations and other emergencies such as the Ebola outbreak, which had disproportionately affected health workers, leaving 350 dead.
Several delegations also spoke of the link between the protection of health and sustainable development.
Earlier, the representative of Kazakhstan, Mr Akan Rakhmetullin, said as the world faced unprecedented outbreaks such as the Ebola Virus, cooperation was the approach to take.
Progress in global health, he said depended primarily on international partnerships, including public-private endeavours to bridge existing gaps in realising every person’s right to internationally accepted standards of physical and mental health.
He said outbreaks require sustainable international responses to shared health risks which knew no borders.
That notion, he said would become even a greater imperative in the post-2015 era for health and overall security and progress.
For its part, he said Kazakhstan was working on national goals, collaborating on regional efforts as well as contributing to Ebola response initiatives.
He warned that all sustainable development gains would be reversed by challenges to health systems.
Also, Mr Franklyn Fawundu, the representative of Sierra Leone who spoke on behalf of Guinea Bissau, Liberia and Mali, said he profoundly appreciated the convening of this special meeting.
Fawundu endorsed the safety of health workers.
He stated that the Ebola outbreak had demonstrated the need for a coordinated response and the provision of services to stop the spread of the virus.
He said the unprecedented outbreak had severe economic effects and had also wreaked havoc on the health care system.
Fawundu said at the moment, Sierra Leone had lost 10 medical doctors in the fight against Ebola.
In another development, the Assembly also adopted a resolution proclaiming June 21 as International Day of Yoga.
The Vice President of the General Assembly, Álvaro Moura, who delivered a statement on behalf of General Assembly President, Sam Kutesa, noted the overwhelming support that the resolution on yoga had received, with more than 170 co-sponsors.
The Assembly also heard introductions to resolutions on the strengthening of the coordination of humanitarian and disaster relief assistance of the United Nations.
It also heard the twentieth anniversary of the participation of volunteers known as “White Helmets” and the strengthening of the coordination of emergency humanitarian assistance of the United Nations.
Speakers around the room agreed that 2014 was a year of substantial humanitarian crises, voicing support behind the measures that strengthened the coordinated international responses to them.
They agreed that the magnitude and complexity of those crises had increased with increasingly hostile environments and extremists, requiring better coordination and response in all areas.

Cross section of youths cycling with the Rivers State Commissioner for Youth Development, Sir Owene Wonodi during a road show on cancer awareness in Port Harcourt