SIXTY-SIXTH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY Agenda item 14.2
WHA66.7 27 May 2013
Implementation of the recommendations of the United Nations Commission on Life-Saving Commodities for Women and Children The Sixty-sixth World Health Assembly, Having considered the report on follow-up actions to recommendations of the high-level commissions convened to advance women’s and children’s health;1 Recalling resolution WHA63.15 on monitoring of the achievement of the health-related Millennium Development Goals and resolution WHA65.7 on implementation of the recommendations of the United Nations Commission on Information and Accountability for Women’s and Children’s Health; Recalling also that the United Nations Secretary-General called upon the global community through the Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health to work together to save 16 million lives by 2015; Acknowledging the pledges and commitments made by a large number of Member States and partners to the United Nations Secretary-General’s Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health; Recognizing that millions of women and children die needlessly every year from conditions that are easily prevented by the use of existing, inexpensive medical commodities; Recognizing also the need urgently to address and overcome the barriers that prevent women and children from accessing and using appropriate commodities; Welcoming the report of the United Nations Commission on Life-Saving Commodities for Women and Children, which estimates that six million lives can be saved within five years by improving access to 13 specific, overlooked commodities and related products (see Annex); Welcoming also the actions recommended by the United Nations Commission on Life-Saving Commodities for Women and Children and the implementation plan to deliver the actions; Acknowledging that the actions recommended by the United Nations Commission on LifeSaving Commodities for Women and Children’s Health will also increase access to a broader set of commodities; 1
Document A66/14.
WHA66.7
Acknowledging also the need to promote, establish or support and strengthen the health services needed by women and children from before pregnancy to delivery, during the immediate post-delivery period, and childhood; Reaffirming the importance of facilitating technology transfer on mutually agreed terms between developed and developing countries as well as among developing countries, as appropriate; Acknowledging the role of the independent Expert Review Group in reviewing the progress made in implementing the recommended actions, 1. URGES Member States to put into practice, as appropriate, the implementation plan on lifesaving commodities for women and children, including: (1) improving the quality, supply and use of the 13 life-saving commodities and other essential commodities for reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health, under the supervision and guidance of health care professionals, where needed, and building upon information and communication technology best practices for making these improvements; (2) developing plans to implement at scale appropriate interventions in order to increase demand for and utilization of health services, particularly among underserved populations; (3) facilitating universal access for all members of society, in particular the poorest, to the 13 life-saving commodities as well as to other essential commodities for reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health; (4) improving regulatory efficiency by harmonizing registration requirements and streamlining assessment processes, including granting priority to review of the life-saving commodities; (5) implementing proven mechanisms and interventions to ensure that health care providers are knowledgeable about the latest national guidelines for maternal and child health; 2. REQUESTS the Director-General: (1) to work with UNICEF, UNFPA, the World Bank, UNAIDS, UN Women, national, regional and international regulators, private sector actors and other partners in order to promote and assure the availability of safe, quality commodities; (2) to work with and support Member States, as appropriate, in improving regulatory efficiency, standardizing and harmonizing registration requirements and streamlining assessment processes, including granting priority to review of the life-saving commodities; (3) to provide support to the independent Expert Review Group on Information and Accountability for Women’s and Children’s Health in its work on assessing the progress made in the implementation of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health, as well as in the implementation of the recommendations of the United Nations Commission on Life-Saving Commodities for Women and Children; (4) to report annually until 2015, through the Executive Board, to the World Health Assembly on progress achieved in the follow-up of the recommendations of the Commission on Life-Saving Commodities for Women and Children, in connection with the agenda item concerning promoting health through the life course. 2
WHA66.7
ANNEX Commodities by life stage1 Maternal health commodities 1 2 3 Oxytocin – post partum haemorrhage (PPH) Misoprostol – post-partum haemorrhage Magnesium sulfate – eclampsia and severe pre-eclampsia
Newborn health commodities 4 5 6 7 Injectable antibiotics – newborn sepsis Antenatal corticosteroids (ANCs) – preterm respiratory distress syndrome Chlorhexidine – newborn cord care Resuscitation devices – newborn asphyxia
Child health commodities 8 9 10 Amoxicillin – pneumonia Oral rehydration salts – diarrhoea Zinc – diarrhoea
Reproductive health commodities 11 12 13 Female condoms Contraceptive implants – family planning/contraception Emergency contraception – family planning/contraception
Ninth plenary meeting, 27 May 2013 A66/VR/9
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1 See United Nations Commission on Life-Saving Commodities for Women and Children, Commissioner’s Report, September 2012, Table 1, page 7.
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