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Published May 20, 2023 / Public health

Meeting of Commonwealth Health Ministers

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Geneva, 20 May 2023 - Commonwealth Health Ministers and Heads of Delegation have reaffirmed their commitment to achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) for all, and to ensuring that the most vulnerable and marginalised have equal access to health services in all 56 member countries by 2030.

Togo's Minister of Health, Pr. Moustafa Mijiyawa with the Commonwealth Secretary General, Hon. Patricia Janet Scotland, Baroness of Ashtal at CHMM 2023 in Geneva, © Brazzaville Foundation.

Gathered on the sidelines of the 76th WHO World Health Assembly, around Commonwealth Secretary General Hon. Patricia Scotland, and health experts for the 35th Commonwealth Health Ministers' Meeting (CHMM), chaired by the Hon. Susan Nakhumicha Wafula, Kenya's Minister of Health, participants agreed to accelerate efforts to achieve UHC by 2030, in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), recognising that the COVID-19 pandemic has reversed hard-won gains in UHC and highlighted health inequalities within and between countries, including inequalities in access to quality care.

 

The Republic of Togo, which joined the Commonwealth in June 2022, was represented by Professor Moustafa Mijiyawa, Minister of Health, Public Hygiene and Universal Access to Healthcare.

From left to right: Mr Cédric Otse-Mawandza, Head of Mission (Brazzaville Foundation); Ms Meghna Joshi-von Heyden, Strategic Manager: Partnerships and Advocacy (Commonwealth Pharmacists Association); Ms Victoria Rutter, Executive Director (Commonwealth Pharmacists Association); Mr Richard Amalvy, Chief Executive (Brazzaville Foundation), © Brazzaville Foundation.

The Brazzaville Foundation, technical coordinator of the Lomé Initiative, and the Commonwealth Pharmacists Association have co-authored an awareness-raising paper for the attention of members of the Preparatory Session for the Meeting, with the aim of getting Commonwealth governments to put this issue on their agenda and act on this information document to :

 

- Draw up national action plans,

- Strengthen regulation and policy,

- Raise awareness and educate people about the harmful impact of substandard and falsified medicines.

 

Established in 1969, the Commonwealth Pharmacists Association (CPA) is the professional body for national pharmacists associations in Commonwealth countries. In addition to health ministers, the meeting was attended by representatives of Commonwealth health professional associations, civil society, young leaders and development partners, as well as organisations international and regional organisations such as WHO.