Israel to host WHO European conference for the first time

Israel will host the 72nd annual World Health Organisation (WHO) conference for the first time next week, the Health Ministry announced yesterday.

According to the WHO, representatives from the 53 countries in the UN health agency’s European region will be in attendance for the three-day meeting which will be held 12-14 September.

Bilateral cooperation deals on health will be signed between Israeli Health Ministry Nitzan Horowitz and officials from Germany, Croatia, Cyprus and Kazakhstan during the meeting.

Horowitz said the scheduled attendance of his counterparts and the European delegations was “really important to the country and our health system.”

“The policies we have implemented in the last year and the performance of the Israeli health system in the fight against the coronavirus really stood out on the world stage,” Horowitz said in a statement. “The WHO conference in Israel is an opportunity to continue to strengthen our ties with the world, with the World Health Organisation and with European countries.”

The conference will be the first full in-person event to include officials from the region since COVID-19, the WHO added.

A number of Israeli officials will also be in attendance including President Isaac Herzog.

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