Need to make new medicines accessible to all countries at once – Chris Fearne

There is a need to make new medicines accessible to all countries concurrently, Chris Fearne said shortly after being appointed president of the World Health Organisation assembly.

“We are seeing small countries at a disadvantage when trying to introduce new innovative medicines in their markets and Malta will be at the forefront to make a difference to the health of all peoples of the world,” Fearne said.

The Maltese deputy prime minister had made similar arguments during the COVID-19 pandemic when he and others pushed the European Commission to jointly procure vaccines.

Fearne was on Sunday unanimously elected president of WHO’s 76th assembly by the 194 member states, meeting in Geneva. The post comes with a one-year term. He is the first Maltese to occupy such a high-profile role in the UN body.

The assembly is tasked to outline the WHO’s priorities and policies for the coming year. It started on Sunday and will end on 30 May.

“With political, economic, social and environmental problems aggravating, they will increasingly have an impact on health services and people’s wellbeing, and this requires the WHO to be more vocal and more present,” Fearne said in his first reaction following the appointment.

Fearne was nominated for the post by the WHO’s regional office in Europe and comes as a personal achievement, following Malta’s relatively successful handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fearne will remain deputy prime minister and health minister in Malta.