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The World Health Assembly is meeting in Geneva until the end of May. So far, the event has seen the election of Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus from Ethiopia as the director-general for the international body, faced media backlash over travel costs and closed the doors to Taiwan participating in the meeting.
Roberta Lipson, CEO of United Family Healthcare, welcomed the choice of an African to head the WHO for the very first time, and noted that the organization has made great contributions to world health improvement.
“The biggest idea that the World Health Organization has promoted is healthcare for all, universal healthcare. And getting every country, no matter what their stage and development, to be focused on that,” she said.
WHO reportedly spends 200 million US dollars on travel expenses, much more than the sums of money invested in combating many diseases. Professor Fang Zhiwu from the School of Management at Xi'an Jiaotong University said that the PR crisis will not result in a systemic organizational problem, adding that the way to avoid the recurrence of such controversy is to cut travel costs.
The 70th World Health Assembly, from milestone vote to Taiwan exclusion
POLITICS By Gong Rong
2017-05-25 11:55 GMT+8
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By CGTN's Wang Dong
The World Health Assembly is meeting in Geneva until the end of May. So far, the event has seen the election of Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus from Ethiopia as the director-general for the international body, faced media backlash over travel costs and closed the doors to Taiwan participating in the meeting.
Roberta Lipson, CEO of United Family Healthcare, welcomed the choice of an African to head the WHO for the very first time, and noted that the organization has made great contributions to world health improvement.
“The biggest idea that the World Health Organization has promoted is healthcare for all, universal healthcare. And getting every country, no matter what their stage and development, to be focused on that,” she said.
WHO reportedly spends 200 million US dollars on travel expenses, much more than the sums of money invested in combating many diseases. Professor Fang Zhiwu from the School of Management at Xi'an Jiaotong University said that the PR crisis will not result in a systemic organizational problem, adding that the way to avoid the recurrence of such controversy is to cut travel costs.
“It's very hard for me to think that they are spending too much on personal pleasure or vacationing. We would rather improve communication to cut the travel cost from their travel budget in the future, instead of trying to focus on their daily budget while they actually take time away from their family,” he noted.
Meanwhile, international relations expert Victor Gao Zhikai spoke about the buzz Taiwan has caused for its exclusion from the WHO meeting.
“Going forward, I think if Tsai Ing-wen government would come back to recognize the 1992 consensus and also discontinue the advocacy on Taiwan as a separate independent country, of course, I think we will all welcome Taiwan back into organizations like the WHO,” he said.
(CGTN)
