SIXTY-FIRST WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY Agenda item 11.12
WHA61.18 24 May 2008
Monitoring of the achievement of the health-related Millennium Development Goals The Sixty-first World Health Assembly, Recalling the 2005 World Summit Outcome and the commitments taken by the international community to fully implement the Millennium Development Goals; Concerned by the relatively slow progress made, especially in the sub-Saharan African countries, in achieving the Millennium Development Goals, and in particular the health-related Goals; Concerned by the fact that achievement of Millennium Development Goals varies from country to country and from goal to goal; Concerned that the high rate of morbidity and mortality are underpinned by social determinants of health and high levels of malnutrition and noting that these social determinants of health may further undermine achievements of the health-related Millennium Development Goals; Recalling the General Assembly resolution 60/265 dated 12 July 2006 on follow-up to the development outcome of the 2005 World Summit, including the Millennium Development Goals and the other internationally agreed development goals, and the WHO Medium-term strategic plan 2008–2013; Welcoming the Secretariat’s report on monitoring achievement of the health-related Millennium Development Goals;1 Underlining in particular the need to build sustainable national health systems; strengthen national capacities; fully honour financing commitments made by national governments and their development partners in order to better fill many of the resource gaps in the health sector; to take concrete, effective and timely action in implementing all agreed commitments on aid effectiveness and to increase predictability of aid; Reaffirming the commitments by many developed countries to achieve the target of 0.7% of gross national income for official development assistance by 2015 and to reach at least 0.5% of gross national income for official development assistance by 2010, as well as the target of 0.15% to 0.20%
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Document A61/15.
WHA61.18
for least developed countries, and urge those developed countries that have not yet done so to make concrete efforts in this regard in accordance with their commitments. 1. DECIDES: (1) to include the monitoring of the achievement of the health-related Millennium Development Goals as a regular item on the agenda of the Health Assembly; (2) to support the United Nations Secretary-General’s call to action, including the United Nations High-Level Event on the Millennium Development Goals (New York, 25 September 2008); 2. URGES Member States: to continue sustaining high-level political commitments and work with development partners towards strengthening the national health systems including health information system for monitoring Millennium Development Goals progress. 3. REQUESTS the Director-General: (1) to submit annually a report on the status of progress made, including on main obstacles and ways to overcome them, according to the new monitoring framework, in achievement of the health-related Millennium Development Goals, through the Executive Board to the Health Assembly; (2) to that effect, to continue to cooperate closely with all other United Nations and international organizations involved in the process of achieving the Millennium Development Goals in the framework of WHO’s Medium-term strategic plan 2008–2013; (3) to work with all relevant partners to help to ensure that action on the health-related Millennium Development Goals is one of the main themes of the United Nations High-Level Event on the Millennium Development Goals (New York, 25 September 2008).
Eighth plenary meeting, 24 May 2008 A61/VR/8
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