Preparations for the UN General Assembly
Sunday, September 9, 2018 at 5:38AM We have received the following information about health-related High-level Meetings at the time of the 73rd Session of the UN General Assembly:
This year’s 73rd Session of the UN General Assembly will convene, for the first time ever, two health-related High-Level Meetings (HLMs) back to back, and is an opportunity for health advocates to present a coordinated ‘One Health’ approach.
On Wednesday 26 September, the UN will convene the first High-Level Meeting on Ending Tuberculosis (TB) and on Thursday 27th September, the third High-Level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs). For those who are not attending UNGA week, both HLMs and all official sessions will be webcast.
The current political climate at the UN is not one conducive to multiple HLMs on health. Member States are pulling back from ambitious and meaningful commitments, and there is a lack of political leadership to make the difficult but impactful choices that place health above industry interests. While the outcome documents for the TB and NCDs HLMs may not be as ambitious as health advocates would have liked, there is still ongoing country-level advocacy to push Heads of State and Government to implement policies and programmes that serve their people first.
In advance of the HLM on NCDs, the NCD Alliance will be convening a civil society advocacy briefing on Monday 24 September from 1:30-4:30pm which NGOs are invited to attend.
In September 2019 there will be a High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage.