Chris Fearne nominated for president of World Health Organisation’s assembly

Chris Fearne has been nominated by the World Health Organisation’s European regional committee to head the World Health Assembly.

The Maltese Deputy Prime Minister, who is also health minister, will be president of the 46th edition of the assembly that brings together WHO’s 194 member states.

Fearne accepted the nomination but in a Facebook post made it clear that he will continue being part of the Maltese government.

The announcement was made on Monday by Fearne’s office with the minister publishing on his social media pages the letter with the nomination sent to him by European Regional Director Hans Kluge.

The post carries a one-year term and culminates in the annual assembly where WHO delegates discuss the priorities and policies the organisation will be working on for the following 12 months.

“It is an honour for a Maltese person to lead the World Health Assembly, and the nomination for this post reaffirms the strong reputation Malta’s healthcare system enjoys on an international level,” Fearne said.

The nomination cements the good relationship that developed between Fearne and the European Regional Committee, particularly Kluge, during the pandemic. Malta’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic was often praised and singled out by Kluge as a model to be followed by other countries.

He is credited with introducing bold reforms to Malta's in-vitro fertilisation law, making the treatment accessible to more women and introducing provisions for embryo freezing and pre-implantation genetic testing.

Fearne is also piloting the reform to Malta's draconian anti-abortion law, putting forward amendments that would allow doctors to terminate a pregnancy if a woman's life or health is in danger. The amendments are currently before parliament at committee stage.

But the minister is currently facing industrial unrest by the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses, which has criticised government for ignoring its proposals for better work and pay conditions for nurses in ongoing sectoral agreement talks.

And the government is dealing with the fallout from the court's decision to annul the Steward hospitals concession contract because of fraud and the private company's inability to fulfil its obligations.