Chris Fearne to be appointed President of World Health Organisation assembly on Sunday

Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne will be appointed as President of the World Health Assembly on Sunday.

Fearne, who is also Malta's Health Minister, will be president of the 46th edition of the assembly that brings together WHO’s 194 member states.

He will still retain the same duties within the Maltese government.

On Sunday, Fearne announced on Twitter that he will be officially appointed later on during the day, stating that "it is a great honour for him and for Malta."

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.

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.