An innovative WHO “Health for Peace Initiative” that aims to build bridges in conflict zone and humanitarian settings through global health initiatives ran into some rough waters at last week’s Executive Board meeting – with the United States saying that it should include a human rights element – while Russia warned WHO against “politicizing” its […] Continue reading ->
As the 150th Executive Board Meeting of the WHO closed Saturday, attention focused on the inability of the WHO governing board to reach consensus on critical issues that it had debated – including a more sustainable financing framework as well as a clear way forward on a proposed new pandemic legal accord, reforms of global […] Continue reading ->
As the World Health Organization’s executive board meets this week, two major issues – reforming its finances and pandemic response – continue to defy easy consensus.   A handful of powerful countries, including but not limited to the United States, remain hesitant over a plan to bolster the World Health Organization’s (WHO) finances by increasing member […] Continue reading ->
China wants to delete language supporting rapid World Health Organization (WHO) access to outbreak sites in future pandemics from a critical document that maps out a way forward in future pandemics, a diplomatic source has told Health Policy Watch. This emerged at Monday’s start of a three-day meeting in Geneva of the global body’s Working […] Continue reading ->
The way in which WHO is financed is “fundamentally rotten” with excessive financial dependence on just a handful of rich countries and a few private donors.  But Germany’s deputy head of global health in the Ministry of Health, Björn Kümmel, is hopeful that WHO member states may turn course in coming months – and reclaim […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) aims to make its engagement with non-state actors (non-state actors) more meaningful and efficient with a new proposal to establish a number of NSA fora that would allow exchange with WHO and member state representatives outside of official meetings. The new proposal — which will be tested during the 74th […] Continue reading ->
Discussions on WHO’s state of financing were addressed by member states during the on-going Executive Board meeting. As we reported last week, WHO is keen on defining independence and sustainability of its financing to be better prepared to address emergencies in the future. We spoke to Björn Kümmel, Deputy Head of Unit, Global Health, German Federal Ministry […] Continue reading ->