Donors making a difference: Health priorities take centre stage at UNGA

Health workers at their WHO-supported clinic on the remote Murghab plateau in eastern Tajikistan. ©WHOWHO, with the support of its donors and partners, this month convenes three High-Level Meetings at the United Nations General Assembly to advance three of its top priorities: universal health coverage, pandemic readiness, and tuberculosis.Some of our latest news stories provide a window into WHO’s work on these priorities across the globe:From Tigray, Ethiopia, comes news of the vital primary care services that are protecting girls from cervical cancer and identifying unvaccinated children amid humanitarian crisis.

A story from Tajikistan covers the delivery of primary health care services to yurt-dwelling nomads on one of the world’s highest plateaus.“It is cold, and the wind makes it hard to go outside,” said Yunus, a nurse who is profiled in the story. “But we have to.

It’s not only about vaccines – people get sick more often during the winter, and sometimes call us during the night. We are the only ones they can call, and we have to help them around the clock.”Other stories touch on the fight against tuberculosis: Syrian doctors are honing their expertise to treat TB patients – often displaced people – in areas of conflict and natural disaster.

In South-East Asia, meanwhile, new political commitments call for redoubled coordination among countries to end the infectious killer by 2030.Stories and videos from Lao PDR, Sierra Leone and Tanzania show ways that WHO is collaborating with partners to build health systems strong enough to take on future pandemics.Related: UN General Assembly High-Level Meetings on health 2023WHO provides Syrian doctors with cutting-edge training to care for tuberculosis patientsDoctors study