A high-level council to govern global health emergencies, made up of heads of state and other international leaders, is one of the proposals to be discussed by the World Health Organization (WHO) this year.
It is the first of 10 proposals to strengthen the WHO’s response to health emergencies put forward by WHO Director General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in a document published late last week.
The proposals, distilled from the numerous proposals from member states and global health in light of COVID-19, will be considered by the body’s executive board meeting from 30 January to 7 February.
The executive board develops the agenda for the WHO’s annual World Health Assembly, the body’s highest decision-making forum.
The proposed global health emergency council would be guided by the principles of equity, inclusivity and coherence and “complement the Standing Committee of the Executive Board, and a main committee on emergencies of the World Health Assembly”, according to Tedros’s document.
Its three primary responsibilities would be to address “obstacles to equitable and effective health emergency preparedness, response and resilience (HEPR)”, foster compliance with, global health instruments including the International Health Regulations (2005), and “identify needs and gaps, swiftly mobilize resources, and ensure effective deployment and stewardship of these resources for HEPR”.
