United States Mission Geneva

The United States thanks the WHO for its work on the global strategy for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases. As the Surgeon General of the United States, I can say that we recognize that non-communicable diseases contribute significantly to mortality and morbidity worldwide …

Good afternoon, everyone. And thank you for joining us today. On behalf of the United States we’re proud to attend the 63rd World Health Assembly, and I’ve been privileged to lead this impressive delegation.

I am very pleased to have the opportunity to speak to this important issue. As the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration in the United States, a public health practitioner and a medical doctor, I have seen first hand the preventive damage to health caused by drugs and other medical products that people depend on, but they are, not what they purport to be.

We just finished a productive dialogue with the Health Ministers from the OIC country meeting led by Secretary Sebelius. This is a part of the President’s framework which he set forth last year in Cairo for a new [beginning] between the United States and Muslim communities around the world.

It is my honor and privilege to represent the United States again at the World Health Assembly. Today, on behalf of the entire U.S. Government, I can tell you that we are committed to working with everyone in this room to expand access to health care, reduce health disparities, advance social justice, and improve the health of all nations.

This is a pivotal moment. The United States Government is committed to working with the world to achieve our shared global health objectives. There is also a growing understanding that we can’t achieve these goals unless we all work together. Today, none of us can afford to “go-it-alone.” That’s why I’m so pleased that so many of our partners – the countries we work closely with every day around the world – are here to talk about our new approach to global health.

“We are committed to working with the Haitian government and the people of Haiti to develop a sustainable, long-term health care system that will not only help the survivors of the earthquake but increase the ability of Haitians to receive the health care they need inside Haiti delivered by their own trained professionals.”

The vulnerability of human settlements — at a time when half the world’s population lives in cities — is projected to increase due to the rising sea levels, inland floods, frequent and stronger tropical cyclones, periods of increased heat, and disease spread that climate change is beginning to generate.

Disease is both a symptom of poverty — with over-crowding, inadequate infrastructure and lack of health care increasing transmission and susceptibility — and also a contributor to poverty. Poor health shreds communities, undermines economic opportunity, and holds back progress.