Globe in Brief
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* Kim Krisberg

## Assembly agrees to health action plan

Members of the World Health Assembly adopted a number of new resolutions on pressing global health issues during their 72nd gathering in Geneva in May.

Among its many actions, the assembly’s member states agreed to a five-year global action plan to promote the health of refugees and migrants, with an ultimate goal of achieving universal health coverage for refugees, migrants and their host populations. According to the World Health Organization, the total number of international migrants rose from 173 million to 258 million between 2000 and 2017, representing an increase of 49%.

The number of forcibly displaced people, at more than 68 million, has also hit records highs.

The assembly also adopted a resolution on improving the transparency of markets for medicines, vaccines and other health products; agreed to a new resolution to improve safe water, sanitation and hygiene services in health facilities around the world; and agreed to adopt the latest revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, which provides a common foundation for identifying health trends and reporting diseases and health conditions. ICD-11 will go into effect Jan. 1, 2022.

![Figure1](http://www.thenationshealth.org/http://www.thenationshealth.org/content/nathealth/49/6/22.2/F1.medium.gif)

[Figure1](http://www.thenationshealth.org/content/49/6/22.2/F1)

In May, members of the World Health Assembly in Geneva agreed to several resolutions on important global health issues.

Photo by Antoine Tardy, courtesy WHO

Other work included an agreement on a new global strategy for responding to climate change and environmental risks, as well as a resolution on continued efforts to curb antimicrobial resistance. Member states also established World Chagas Disease Day on April 14 and declared 2020 as the Year of the Nurse and the Midwife.

For more on the May meeting, visit [www.who.int](http://www.who.int).

## Understanding law can empower health

Law can be a powerful tool for advancing global health, according to new report from *The Lancet*-O’Neill-Georgetown University Commission on Global Health and the Law.

Published in May in *The Lancet*, the report articulates why the law can be an especially pivotal force for health improvement, especially in bringing the universal right to health — a founding principle of the World Health Organization — to fruition. The report offers a number of examples of public health law success, such as tobacco control laws that have saved millions of lives and the promising results of soda taxes, which have resulted in significant declines in sugary drink consumption.

To maximize the public health impact of the law, the report calls for strengthening legal capacities in all countries; providing health law training for attorneys, legislators and judges; investing in legal research to create and assess the evidence of laws’ cost-effectiveness; and disseminating best practices for improving and strengthening health-related law.

“Law can be a powerful tool for advancing global health, yet it remains substantially underutilized and poorly understood,” the commission report stated. “Working in partnership, public health lawyers and health professionals can become champions for evidence-based laws to ensure the public’s health and safety.”

For more information, visit [www.thelancet.com](http://www.thelancet.com).

## Strong link between homicides, firearms

Guns are a leading contributor to death among young men in the U.S., Mexico, Brazil and Colombia, according to a new study.

Published in May in *The Lancet Public Health*, the study is based on national death data from the four countries between 1990 and 2015. Brazil was home to the highest number of firearm deaths among all ages and genders at 855,000 deaths, followed by the U.S. at 851,000 deaths, Colombia at 494,000 firearm deaths and Mexico at 272,000 deaths.

Homicide was the most common intent of firearm deaths in Brazil, Colombia and Mexico, while suicide was the most common intent in the U.S., accounting for 56% of all firearm deaths in the country. Young men with minimal education presented the highest risk in all of the four countries for committing a homicide with a firearm.

During the study period, firearm mortality risks among men ages 15 to 34 went up in Mexico and Brazil, but decreased in the U.S. and Colombia. The risk of gun-related deaths varied widely among men according to place of residence, education and race.

In the U.S., black men ages 25 to 34 with post-secondary education were 30 times more likely to die by firearm homicide than their comparably educated white peers.

For more information, visit [www.thelancet.com](http://www.thelancet.com).

*   Copyright The Nation’s Health, American Public Health Association