- From May 22 to 28, the 75th WHO World Health Assembly takes place.
- It is the annual event in which the world’s leading specialists and health representatives meet.
- It was the first large-scale face-to-face meeting since the start of the pandemic.
During this day there is a topic that has stood out above the rest. Its about Speech by the Undersecretary of Health, Hugo López-Gatell, during the 75th World Health Assembly organized by the WHO. But contrary to what some might suppose, the reception his words have received has not been entirely positive. In fact, most of the comments have been mocking and critical.
What is this event about?
To put in context, Every year, health leaders meet to discuss the main problems that affect the planet. In addition, they also propose solutions and seek collaborative work to achieve better results.
In this sense, during the last two years this event underwent a drastic modification. Due to the pandemic, the face-to-face modality was canceled and it was carried out virtually. Although due to the progress made now it has returned to “normal”.
In this way, from May 22 to May 28, 2022, the 75th World Health Assembly will be held in the city of Geneva, where the WHO headquarters are located.
This year’s theme is: “Health for peace, peace for health” and one of the highlights is that the undersecretary attended as a representative of the entire Mexican health union.
What did the person most responsible for managing the pandemic in Mexico say?
In front of all the attendees and representatives of the WHO, Dr. López-Gatell gave a speech of almost five minutes. The highlight is that he focused on a specific topic. Directly blamed neoliberalism of all the current problems. If you want to see it complete you can see it below.
I share my speech at the 75th World Health Assembly. Mexico is willing to share its experiences, challenges and achievements with the @QUIEN and the global community to build bridges of solidarity and collaboration for the benefit of the world’s population. pic.twitter.com/uSOCKunSu0
— Hugo López-Gatell Ramírez (@HLGatell) May 23, 2022
Now, the criticism against the official has not been long in coming. Both his colleagues and the general population have shown disapproval of him. Although they indicate that his words are true, the biggest annoyance is that he deviated from the topic of health to focus on other areas.
Opinions on López-Gatell’s words
In the first instance, Dr. Xavier Tello criticized that instead of talking about scientific, medical or epidemiological issues, he focused on neoliberalism. He added that everything seems as if it had been an extension of the thinking of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
What a shame.
He could have talked about 50 scientific, medical or epidemiological topics, but it is his place, he preferred to make a harangue against “neoliberalism” and companies, in addition to showing off AMLO’s policies (occurrences).
anyway…
🤦🏻♂️ https://t.co/gy6lzKyx9S— Xavier Tello (@StratCons) May 23, 2022
For her part, the journalist specialized in health issues, Maribel Coronel, said that during the last three years the health system has been in decline in our country. She also recalled that the drug shortage which has not been fully resolved to date.
Hey, it’s all the fault of neoliberalism and the companies… they’ve been in power for 3 years and the public health service has only been in decline, since before the pandemic… https://t.co/RgtDgii9Et
— Health and Economy. Economy and Health (@MaribelRCaronel) May 23, 2022
Similarly, user Guillermo Torres questioned why the Mexican official did not speak about handling the pandemic. He added that it was the ideal space to share his figures and show the results of our country’s strategy.
Other voices comment that it was also possible to talk about the current conditions of health professionals in our country. To date, Mexico is one of the countries with the most doctors and nurses who have died from Covid-19. While it was documented that at the beginning of the pandemic there was a severe lack of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) in hospitals.