After eight days of intense deliberations the 54th World Health Assembly closed its business in Geneva today. The biggest event in the annual calendar for the World Health Organization (WHO), the Assembly charts the global course for the Organization and its 191 Member States in dealing with major public health threats. For the first time in the history of the Organization, the United Nations Secretary-General addressed the Assembly. In his AIDS-focused speech, Mr Kofi Annan outlined the structure of a multi-billion dollar Global AIDS and Health Fund to fight HIV/AIDS and "other infectious diseases that blight the prospects for many developing countries – starting with TB and malaria".
