Fostering next-gen health leaders: DOH joins 77th World Health Assembly
In line with its efforts to prepare the next generation of public health leaders, the Department of Health (DOH) sent a Philippine delegation to this year’s World Health Assembly (WHA).

Led by Health Secretary Teodoro J. Herbosa, the DOH delegation has arrived in Geneva, Switzerland, for the 77th World Health Assembly this week.
There were 25 members of the Philippine delegation to the 77th WHA, including many Supervising Health Program Officers and Medical Officers IV and V.
They are the Division Chiefs and Section Heads from DOH units handling health human resources, quarantine, international health, planning and strategy, tropical medicine, and health promotion.
“Let us prepare the next generation of Philippine public health leaders,” Herbosa said in a statement.
“By supporting them at the world stage, we are securing the future of Philippine and Global health. Their voices will be the voice of the Philippines in all the discussions here at the 77th WHA,” he added.
Herbosa shared that Ambassador Carlos D. Sorreta and his team at the Philippine Mission to the United Nations briefed the young DOH delegation. “I intentionally brought along junior to mid-level former Doctors to the Barrios (DTTBs) and public health leaders in the DOH," he said.
Meanwhile, Herbosa, along with Undersecretaries Kenneth G. Ronquillo, Gloria J. Balboa, Emmie Liza Perez-Chiong, and Assistant Secretaries Frances Mae Cherryl K. Ontalan and Maylene M. Beltran, will mentor the staff as they prepare and deliver Philippine country positions on universal health coverage, noncommunicable diseases, immunization, tuberculosis, and maternal health.
There will also be agenda items on public health emergencies, social determinants of health, climate change, and health economics.
The WHA is the highest decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO).
It is attended by delegations from all WHO Member States and focuses on a specific health agenda prepared by the Executive Board.
The main functions of the WHA are to determine the policies of the Organization, appoint the Director-General, supervise financial policies, and review and approve the proposed program budget.
The Health Assembly is held annually in Geneva, Switzerland.
With the theme, “All for Health, Health for All,” the 77th WHA will be held from May 27 to June 1, 2024.