WHO member states vote to relocate body's Moscow office to Copenhagen amid war

On Wednesday, member states of the World Health Organisation voted to move the Moscow-based office of the international organisation to Copenhagen, Denmark. In the Wednesday assembly, the member state also urged Russia to stop attacks on hospitals and healthcare facilities in Ukraine, The Guardian reported. During the 76th World Health Assembly in Geneva, at least 80 member states requested the WHO secretariat to move the  European Office for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases to Denmark from Russia. Amid the raging Russia-Ukraine war, the member states urged the International body to take the measure before the new year. 

During the Wednesday meeting, the member states voted on a draft decision which was adopted by the Regional Committee for Europe on May 23. The committee was made up of 53 states from the WHO Europe region who voted on the decision earlier this month. Apart from Russia, the member state also voted on draft decisions formulated against countries like North Korea, China and Belarus. 

The logo and building of the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, 15 April 2020, Image: AP

“Far from politicising the situation, [the draft decision] focuses specifically on lingering health impacts of the war,” the Ukrainian delegation asserted ahead of the voting process, The Guardian. “The full-scale aggression launched by Russia against Ukraine … has triggered one of the largest health and humanitarian crises. More than 1,256 health facilities have been damaged and 177 reduced to rubble leaving about 237 health workers and patients dead or injured,” the delegation further added during the address. Russia’s participation in WHO and the United Nations has been heavily condemned by Ukraine since the commencement of the war in February last year. 

Ukraine Health Emergency takes centre stage

The health emergency that broke out in Ukraine following the Russia-Ukraine war remained at the centre stage of the three-day assembly convened by the WHO. During the meeting, the Ukrainian delegation asserted that more than 1,256 health facilities have been damaged and around 177 such facilities have been reduced to rubble. The delegation also highlighted that due to the ongoing war, supply chains of essential medicines have been disrupted severely disrupted during the war. According to Health Policy Watch, WHO has independently confirmed  974 attacks on medical facilities and the deaths of over 100 healthcare workers since the war. 

Ukrainian soldiers and emergency employees work outside a maternity hospital damaged by shelling in Mariupol, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 9, 2022, Image: AP