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Brussels, 08 June 2007
WHO Director General Margaret Chan makes first
visit to Commission to discuss enhanced
collaboration on health
Dr Margaret Chan, the Director General of the World Health Organization, will
visit the European Commission next Tuesday 12 June. Accompanied by
WHO Regional Director for Europe, Dr Marc Danzon, Dr Chan will meet
President Barroso, Commissioners Kyprianou and Potočnik, and Directors
General for Health, External Relations, Development and Humanitarian Aid.
Priority issues on the day's agenda include the health consequences of
climate change, global health security, and improving health outcomes in
Africa.
Markos Kyprianou, European Commissioner for Health, said “This is an important
opportunity for the Commission to discuss strategic health priorities with WHO, and
the actions we can take in partnership to improve health in the EU and the wider
world. As the WHO's third biggest donor, the Commission is committed to improve
this partnership. We aim to use this high-level meeting to find ways to enhance our
collaboration to deliver positive outcomes for global health".
Climate change, health security and improving health outcomes in
Africa
In this fifth high-level meeting between WHO and the Commission, Dr Chan,
President Barroso and Commissioner Kyprianou will discuss the potentially
devastating health consequences of climate change, as an urgent priority for new
EC-WHO collaboration. Taking into account troubling recent trends in Europe such
as the first locally-derived case of malaria in Corsica, the Commission will announce
the development of a new EU policy communication on the health consequences of
climate change, informed by work being done in WHO and other UN agencies.
On global health security, the WHO Director General will emphasise the imminent
entry into force of the revised International Health Regulations on 15 June, which
include new mechanisms to address public health emergencies such as pandemic
flu. She will call on the Commission to help promote IHR implementation in the
European Neighbourhood and low income countries. The Commission will
emphasise its commitment to development aid to support and strengthen national
health systems, reflecting country priorities including both communicable and noncommunicable diseases.
With regard to research policy, Commissioner Potočnik will express a shared
personal commitment with Dr Chan, to deliver health benefits in Africa - using the
EU's 7th Framework Programme as a driver for health development.
He will announce a High Level meeting in early 2008, involving the Commission,
WHO, African health and research ministries, and other stakeholders, on how best to
harness EU research to deliver health benefits in the world's poorest countries. The
Commission and WHO will also commit to increased collaboration in Africa, including
working with the African Union on health workforce issues.
Other issues on the EC / WHO agenda
During the day's seven meetings, a diverse range of issues will be discussed,
illustrating the breadth cooperation between WHO and the Commission. In addition
to the issues listed above, other agenda items include, but are not limited to:
- Effective implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
- Health in wider Europe – EU enlargement and the European Neighbourhood
Policy countries
- Development of the new EU Health Strategy, e-health and links to WHO
initiatives
- EU health systems research and the 2008 WHO Euro Ministerial Conference
- Health in African development policy including workforce migration
- Accelerating progress towards the health Millennium Development Goals
- Supporting the European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership
- Dealing with communicable disease outbreaks in emergency humanitarian aid
context
- Supporting humanitarian reform by strengthening response capacity in
emergencies and crises
Background
The Commission has long-standing bilateral relations with WHO. Current
collaboration is based on an exchange of letters concluded in 2000 which set up
various cooperation mechanisms, including high level meetings such as these.
The Commission is the third largest extra-budgetary contributor to WHO, donating
around €75m ($102m) in 2005-61. The two organizations also collaborate closely in
terms of technical assistance, including staff secondments and joint missions.
For more information, see:
http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_international/int_organisations/who_en.htm
1
For most recent WHO figures on extra-budgetary
see: http://www.who.int/bfi/ExtraBud/acg060b.pdf.
2
contributions,