Permanent Representative of Lithuania Met with WHO Director-General
On 15 August, the Permanent Representative of Lithuania to the UN Office and other International Organisations in Geneva, Ambassador Andrius Krivas, made an office call on the Director-General of the World Health Organisation, Dr. Margaret Chan. They discussed the major objectives of the WHO and Lithuania’s priorities in that regard.
Particular attention was given to global public health challenges and issues of gender equality. According to Dr. Chan, public health and women are central to sustainable development. It was pointed out in the meeting that effective solution to healthcare problems was only possible on a global scale through joined concerted efforts of world community, national governments and international organisations that encompass all countries and regions, as well as all spheres of national and global governance: not only healthcare, prevention and treatment of diseases and fight against pandemics, but also general well-being and social care, including childcare, protection of environment, public education, agriculture and food production, and others. Such integrated and comprehensive approach is crucial in order to achieve the UN-mandated Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
WHO Director-General thanked Lithuania for being active in the context of multilateral diplomacy. She warmly remembered her participation in the 65th session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe in Vilnius last autumn and her recent brief encounter with the President of Lithuania Ms. Dalia Grybauskautė in Rio de Janeiro.
