The WHO's 75th anniversary: WHO at a pivotal moment in history.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) was inaugurated in 1948 to bring the world together to ensure the highest attainable standard of health for all. Establishing health governance under the United Nations (UN), WHO was seen as the preeminent leader in public health, promoting a healthier world following the destruction of World War II and ensuring global solidarity to prevent disease and promote health. Its constitutional function would be 'to act as the directing and coordinating authority on international health work'. Yet today, as the world commemorates WHO's 75th anniversary, it faces a historic global health crisis, with governments presenting challenges to its institutional legitimacy and authority amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. WHO governance in the coming years will define the future of the Organisation and, crucially, the health and well-being of billions of people across the globe. At this pivotal moment, WHO must learn critical lessons from its past and make fundamental reforms to become the Organisation it was meant to be. We propose reforms in WHO financing, governance, norms, human rights and equity that will lay a foundation for the next generation of global governance for health.

Social participation, universal health coverage and health security

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic response is a good example of the growing chasm between people and their governments. To fight the pandemic, policy-makers often took top-down decisions with little community input, although these decisions were far reaching and affected people at all levels. Leaders have often used a default mode of governance that is neither inclusive nor particularly diverse, highlighting the shortcomings of how health systems have traditionally been steered.

Invest in health and uphold rights to "build back better" after COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic is not just a health crisis - it is a full-blown economic and social crisis that is impacting the lives and livelihoods of billions of people. This commentary examines the mutually dependent relationship between health security and universal health coverage (UHC), and how the longstanding underinvestment in both renders us all vulnerable. It also discusses the vulnerability of services for sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in times of crisis, which is compounded when these services are not included and well integrated into national UHC packages. It concludes with a call for stronger political leadership for UHC and SRHR as the global community strives to "build back better" after COVID-19.

Uniting for adolescents in covid-19 and beyond

Adolescents and young adults are also experiencing a crisis of connection to family, community, and society, with increasing numbers living on the streets or dropping out of school.34 Between 2003 and 2015, development assistance for adolescent health accounted for only 1.6% of total development assistance for health,5 despite a third of the total global burden of disease estimated to have roots in adolescence.6 Mental health problems affect 10-20% of adolescents, and many more experience symptoms that diminish wellbeing.7 Furthermore, this is the age at which the gender inequalities that underlie and pose major barriers to wellbeing emerge clearly and is when programmes can transform these inequalities. In 2017, 34% of young women and 10% of young men aged 15-24 years were not in employment, education, or training, with more pronounced disparities in northern Africa and southern Asia.68 Even among employed adolescents and young adults, an increasing proportion have poor job security, variable weekly earnings, and minimal or no health or social security coverage.8 These examples show that, as a global community, we have paid insufficient attention to the multidimensional and intersectional nature of adolescent wellbeing and the importance of the transition to young adulthood. In 2019, for a more concerted and collaborative approach to adolescents’ wellbeing, an unprecedented coalition of governments, United Nations agencies, non-governmental organisations, and academic institutions—working closely with adolescents and young people—committed to a call to action for adolescent wellbeing.9 Underpinning this call to action is a new agreed definition and conceptual framework for adolescent wellbeing to inform policies and programming.10 The framework emphasises the importance of integrating five interconnected domains in adolescent programming: good health and optimum nutrition;connectedness, positive values, and contribution to society;safety and a supportive environment;learning, competence, education, skills, and employability;and agency and resilience.

Should I stay or should I go now? Why risk communication is the critical component in disaster risk reduction.

Risk communication is a critical component in disaster risk reduction, especially in designing and implementing early warning systems. The ability to communicate hazard forecasts and risk information to vulnerable communities and stakeholders successfully is crucial for effective disaster preparedness and response, to reduce impact, and to prevent loss of life. Successful risk communication, however, is challenged constantly. Even the most sophisticated forecasting models and advanced early warning systems can be rendered ineffective if the information is not communicated clearly, on time, and in a way that allows the end-user to consider options and act appropriately. These challenges not only apply to fast onset hazards such as cyclones and tsunamis, but also to slower onset hazards such as the current COVID-19 pandemic. Around the world, governments' responses to the current pandemic provide examples of how complex and difficult successful risk communication is. This paper discusses the importance of risk communication as a critical component of early warning systems and explores the constant challenges that vulnerable communities face, how early warning systems sit within the wider Sendai Framework, and what governments have learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, and discusses how we can communicate more effectively in the future to reduce harm.

THE POWER OF TOUCH

The author discusses the need for physical touch in children's therapy amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Great Britain in 2020. Topics covered include children's lack of needed physical affection to maintain their mental health due to lockdown and social distancing measures and the importance of the skin to skin sensory experience in early years care. Also noted are recommendations for affective touch strategies in the classroom.

Lessons learnt from easing COVID-19 restrictions: an analysis of countries and regions in Asia Pacific and Europe.

The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented global crisis. Many countries have implemented restrictions on population movement to slow the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 and prevent health systems from becoming overwhelmed; some have instituted full or partial lockdowns. However, lockdowns and other extreme restrictions cannot be sustained for the long term in the hope that there will be an effective vaccine or treatment for COVID-19. Governments worldwide now face the common challenge of easing lockdowns and restrictions while balancing various health, social, and economic concerns. To facilitate cross-country learning, this Health Policy paper uses an adapted framework to examine the approaches taken by nine high-income countries and regions that have started to ease COVID-19 restrictions: five in the Asia Pacific region (ie, Hong Kong [Special Administrative Region], Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, and South Korea) and four in Europe (ie, Germany, Norway, Spain, and the UK). This comparative analysis presents important lessons to be learnt from the experiences of these countries and regions. Although the future of the virus is unknown at present, countries should continue to share their experiences, shield populations who are at risk, and suppress transmission to save lives.