Health Minister Lydia Mutsch attended the 70th edition of the World Health Assembly on 22 and 23 May, which reviews the work of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and sets the targets for the next twelve months. This year, the Assembly was organised under the theme of "better health systems in the era of sustainable development".

In her speech to representatives of 186 countries, the Luxembourg minister stressed the special importance that Luxembourg, through its active cooperation with WHO, is giving to the strengthening of national health systems.  

"Luxembourg will continue to work decisively to ensure that no one is left behind, either through the implementation of its national health policy or by providing political, technical and financial support to developing countries in development”, she said.  

Minister Mutsch highlighted three global challenges of particular concern, namely antimicrobial resistance, noncommunicable diseases and migrants' access to health care.

She paid tribute to the Director of WHO, Margaret Chan, for her leadership and outstanding work accomplished during the ten years at the helm of this organisation.

This meeting marked the end of the mandate of Dr. Chan who will leave the WHO in June 2017 on a somewhat bitter note as a result of the criticisms she faced connection with the management of the Ebola crisis. The role will be occupied for the next five years by the Ethiopian Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus who was elected on 23 May after a secret ballot. The former Minister of Health and Minister for Foreign Affairs will be the first African national to chair the World Health Organisation. He won the race against Britain's Dr David Nabarro and Pakistan's Dr Sania Nishtar. 

Minister Lydia Mutsch participated in several bilateral meetings in the margins of the Assembly, which allowed her to exchange views on current issues and possible cooperation in the field of health, in particular with Spanish Minister Dolores Montserrat, vice -Japanese Minister of Health, Seisha Baba, and his Uruguayan counterpart, Dr Jorge Basso.

During the working lunch on the topic of noncommunicable diseases, organized by the Swiss Minister of Health, Alain Berset, on 23 May 2017, Lydia Mutsch had the opportunity to highlight the encouraging results achieved since the launch The National Cancer Plan in 2014 and the efforts of the Luxembourg government based on an integrated approach to the fight against cancer, involving all actors in the field and placing the patient at the centre of reflections.