WHO unveils ambitious ‘triple billion’ plan

The WHO yesterday unveiled an ambitious five-year plan to benefit a “triple billion” more people. The agency has three targets: get 1 billion more people on universal health coverage, better protect 1 billion more against health emergencies, and improve the health and well-being of 1 billion more. In meeting this goal, the agency will restructure to include, among other things, the creation of an emergency preparedness division to complement and support its existing work in mitigating disease outbreaks. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement that the world has changed since the agency’s inception in 1948, “which is why we have articulated a new mission statement for what the world needs us to do now: to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable.”