THE sixty-eighth session of the World Health Assembly (WHA) begins today in Geneva, Switzerland, with discussions on ‘Ebola: Ending the current outbreak, strengthening global preparedness and ensuring the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) capacity to prepare for and respond to future large-scale outbreaks and emergencies with health consequences,’ and ‘Health in post-2015 development agenda’ top on the agenda.

The Health Assembly is the supreme decision-making body of WHO. It is attended by delegations from all 194 member states of the global health institution.

Its main functions, according to a statement released yesterday by WHO, are to determine its policies, supervise financial policies, and review and approve the proposed programme budget. The Health Assembly is held yearly in Geneva.

Besides health in the post-2015 development agenda, other issues to be treated include among others, monitoring the achievement of the health-related Millennium Development Goals, and follow-up to the 2014 high-level meeting of the United Nations General Assembly to undertake a comprehensive review and assessment of the progress achieved in the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases.