WHO

Gabriel Scally on Andrew Lansley’s Geneva fantasy at the World Health Assembly

24 May, 12 | by BMJ Group

Sometimes, while attending a World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva, I get the feeling that I am in a parallel universe where diplomat speak serves to smooth over unresolvable conflict and where we are discussing not the world as it is but a fantasyland. That feeling was never stronger than when listening to contributions from the US delegation during the worst of the Bush era. Maintaining a connection with the reality of inequality and preventable death and disease is made more difficult by the grandeur of the Palais des Nations with its marble halls and stunning views over Lake Geneva.

The WHA provides an irresistible platform for Ministers of Health to extol the virtues of their domestic health achievements while telling the rest of the world what should be done. I have been waiting all week for the Department of Health in London to put on their website the text of Monday’s speech to the WHA by the UK’s Secretary of State for Health and the leader of the UK delegation, Andrew Lansley. It hasn’t appeared. I did, however, eventually find it on the website of the UK Mission in Geneva and now understand why it isn’t for domestic consumption./.../