Summary of the
th
136 Executive
Board Meeting
of the WHO
Issues Covered at the EB
• Ebola
• Administrative Issues
◦ Budget Space Allocation
◦ Implementation of the International Health Regulations
◦ Framework for Engagement with Non State Actors
• Disease Related Topics
◦ New and Existing Infectious Diseases
◦ Antimicrobial Resistance
◦ Malaria
◦ The Draft Global Plan of Action for Public Health, Innovation, and Intellectual Property
• Noncommunicable Diseases
◦ Second International Conference on Nutrition
◦ Health and the Environment
◦ Childhood Obesity
◦ Violence and Health
◦ Follow-Up to the 2014 UN High Level Meeting on NCDs
Special Session on Ebola Virus
Outbreak
Executive Board called a special session on Sunday, January 25th to
discuss the initiatives needed to end the current outbreak
Member states all recognized that the outbreak is being dealt with on
the basis of the WHO’s Emergency Response Framework
◦ Increased acknowledgment of need for all International Health Regulations
to be implemented more effectively
◦ Strengthening health systems on a national level
Related Documentation:
http://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/EB136/B136_INF8-en.pdf
Special Session on Ebola Virus
Outbreak
Proposed plan requests that:
◦ Director General take necessary surveillance steps to keep track of the outbreak
◦ Member States to further strengthen their health systems, with the Director
General offering technical advice to affected countries
◦ Member states work on the training and recruiting of a skilled health workface
◦ Member States send aid to countries when needed through the coordination and
integration of resources
◦ Director General make sure that in cases of emergency, money can be reallocated from a special reserve emergency fund
◦ Emergency global workforce is to be trained and ready to respond to an
emergency situation
These are condensed versions of all of the specific decisions made in the
meeting. The Director General will be reporting on the WHO’s preparedness
for emergencies at the EB session in May
Due to the urgency of the matter, the plan was approved and went into
effect immediately
Budget Space Allocation
Member States wanted to deviate from the status quo
Segment 1, dealing with country-level funding caused disagreement
◦ Member States urged the DG to consider regional needs
◦ Director General set up a working group
◦ New draft of Segment 1 will be finished in March and presented at the WHA
in May
Segments 2 (provision of global and regional goods), 3 (management
and administration), and 4 (response to emergency events) were
approved
Implementation of the International
Health Regulations
Ebola outbreak served as a reminder of why health systems need to be
strengthened
Consensus on the need to control points of entry into countries, and to
improve surveillance and reporting mechanisms
Issues with the IHRs
◦ Deadline extension requests
◦ Zambia breaks the mold
◦ Monitoring and measuring core capacities
◦ Need for a universal, unbiased monitoring system
Argentina proposed to draft a new plan for Yellow Fever risk mapping and
vaccination of travelers
◦ Requesting mandatory booster vaccines for travelers who have had the Yellow
Fever vaccine
◦ Mandatory vaccination of all travelers leaving an area where there is risk of
Yellow Fever
Related Documents:
http://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/EB136/B136_R6-en.pdf
Yellow Fever Proposal:
http://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/EB136/B136_R5-en.pdf
Framework for Engagement with
Non-State Actors
Growing recognition that cooperation with private sector is necessary
Proposal by Argentina
◦ Proposed amendments on the following topics were made by member
states:
◦ Conflict of interest
◦ Involvement with industries
◦ Transparency
◦ Role of the private sector
◦ Definition of unclear terms used in proposal
◦ Policy norms and compliance
◦ Regional differences
◦ A drafting group was set up following Argentina’s proposal
Related Documents:
http://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/EB136/B136_CONF5Rev1-en.pdf
Framework for Engagement with
Non-State Actors
◦ Member states are to submit their proposals for amendments or
addition/deletion by 16 February 2015
◦ Director General compile and make available to Member States by 9 March 2015
Intergovernmental meeting to be held 30 March-1 April 2015
◦ Discussion and decisions on proposed amendments
Present amendments at 68th WHA in May
Related Documents:
http://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/EB136/B136_CONF5Rev1-en.pdf
New and Existing Infectious
Diseases
Member States praised WHO’s response to the 2014 Ebola outbreak
Millennium Development Goals have been helpful to Global Health
Areas of concern:
◦
◦
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Dengue and Climate Change
Antimicrobial Resistance and its effect on TB and Gonorrhea
Re-emergence of Polio
Neglected Tropical Diseases
The African Region announced concern for Plague outbreak in
Madagascar
New and Existing Infectious
Diseases
Japanese Firm has come up with a new drug for TB
Russia working on a plan for Antimicrobial Resistance
Director General spoke on the importance of strengthening health
systems by:
◦ Working with the private sector
◦ Making medicines available to the poor
◦ Getting governmental cooperation and commitment
Antimicrobial Resistance
The draft was widely accepted
Importance of stopping antimicrobial resistance was acknowledged by
all member states
◦ AMR threatens modern medicine
Need for gaining political support across all sectors
◦ Health
◦ Agriculture
◦ Food
Iran proposed the inclusion of vaccination of all workers and
surveillance of all antibiotics used across sectors into the draft
Malaria Strategy 2016-2030
Post 2015 Malaria Strategy supported overall by Member States
Goals outlined:
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
90% mortality reduction
Eliminate Malaria in 35 new countries
Maintain Malaria-free status in countries that have eliminated Malaria
Strengthen cross-border surveillance
Strengthen research and development of new treatments and preventions
Ensure universal access to prevention and treatment
Malaria Strategy 2016-2030
Member states concerned with re-emergence of indigenous Malaria
cases
Concerned with insecticide resistance
Director General is asked to provide technical support to Member
States when implementing the Global Strategy 2016-2030
Related Documentation:
http://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/EB136/B136_CONF2-en.pdf
http://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/EB136/B136_R1-en.pdf
The Draft Global Plan of Action for
Public Health, Innovation, and
Intellectual Property
Member States interested in the idea of intellectual property sharing to
increase access to medical technologies
Previously unsuccessful action plan from 2008 with a 2014 deadline was
reevaluated at the 136th WHO Executive Board Meeting
The decision was to extend the overall project to 2022 and establish an
evaluation process that works for all Member States
The Director General is to provide a report on the Comprehensive
Action Plan and a plan of action for intellectual property sharing that
will be presented at the 68th WHA
The deadline for resolving differences and implementing the plan of
action is 2018
Related Documentation:
http://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/EB136/B136_CONF7Rev2-en.pdf
Second International
Conference on Nutrition
Draft resolution proposed by Member States
40 plus countries are cosponsoring the decision
Malnutrition throughout different food systems was addressed
◦ Micronutrient deficiencies
◦ Under-nutrition
◦ Over-nutrition
Emphasis on conflict of interest
The Director General is urged to collaborate with the Director General of the FAO and
other UN Nutrition agencies
◦ Preparing policy briefs for multi-sectoral cooperation
Member states urged to begin implementing the Rome Declaration via the Framework for
Action
Proposal calls for the formation of a biennial report on progress of the Rome Declaration
initiatives to be approved at the WHA
Related Documentation:
http://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/EB136/B136_CONF8Rev1-en.pdf
Health and the Environment
Proposal by Chile, Colombia, France, Monaco, Norway, Panama,
Ukraine, the United States, Uruguay, and Zambia to form a plan of
action for enforcing WHO air pollution guidelines
◦ Urges member states to emphasize the importance of avoiding air pollution
◦ Urges member states to choose to use more environmentally friendly
products to the best of their financial ability
◦ Informs member states that the WHO air quality guidelines are helpful for
assessing air quality in every country
◦ Asked Director General to work with UN partners to reduce environmental
risk
Related Documentation:
http://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/EB136/B136_CONF9Rev1-en.pdf
Childhood Obesity
Regional committees were set up to develop a specific set of needs to
be addressed by each region
The Director General emphasized the importance of breastfeeding
Regional working Groups are currently meeting
There will be a new Plan of Action in March
Violence and Health
Global Status Report
Recognition by Member States that interpersonal violence is important
◦ Emphasis on violence against women, children, and the elderly
◦ Intimate partner violence is also an issue
◦ Member States pledged their commitment to reducing violence in their
countries
WHO is in the process of policy development
Plan of Action will finished by January 2016
There will be consultation with other UN agencies that deal with
violence
The report was noted with guidance offered
Follow-Up to the 2014 UN High Level
Meeting on NCDs
The high level meeting in 2011 resulted in a declaration was adopted by
United Nations Member States for commitment to preventing and
controlling noncommunicable diseases
Member States would like to see a framework developed to measure
the progress of interventions at the country level
◦ Director General ruled that it is unnecessary to add the indicators and
targets in on a country level
◦ To eliminate confusion from Member States, a briefing was organized to
explain in the report in detail
Assessment to be done by 2017
Thank you for listening
Questions?