PH Participates at the First Regular Session of the WHO Executive Board Led by the New Director General D. Tedros Ghebreyesus
Philippine Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office and Other International Organizations in Geneva delivers the Philippine Statement during a dialogue with the new Director General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
01 February 2018 GENEVA — The 142nd Session of the Executive Board (EB) of the World Health Organization (WHO) kicked off its 6-day meeting in Geneva, Switzerland on 22 January. The Executive Board is one of the key decision making bodies of the WHO and is tasked to give effect to the decisions of the Health Assembly and to advise the Director General on issues relevant to the global health agenda. This is the first regular meeting of the Board under the new Director General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The Philippines is part of this 34-member Board and is positioned to shape the global health agenda. This January meeting comes at a landmark year as 2018 celebrates the 70th founding anniversary of the WHO, the 40th anniversary of the Declaration of Alma Ata on Primary Health Care, and the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the Spanish Flu. This year, health will also be at the forefront of discussions at the United Nations General Assembly, where two High Level Meetings on health will be tabled, one on Noncommunicable Diseases and another Tuberculosis - both issues important to the Philippine Health agenda.
Moreover, the Board will make decisions on the draft 13th General Program of Work (GPW13), specifically if the proposal will be endorsed to the Health Assembly in May. This strategic document will define the work, shape and outcome of the WHO in the next five years from 2019-2025. Hinged on Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, the draft GPW13 aims to have three billion lives improved by 2023, and outlines shifts the WHO will undertake to achieve this goal and to transform itself into a “relevant, proactive, efficient and responsive” Organization to address the needs of today and tomorrow.
“Our goal is clear: to make WHO a modern organization that works seamlessly to make a measureable difference in people’s health at the country level,” DG Tedros emphasized in his opening report to the Executive Board.
In response, the Philippine delegation headed by the Ambassador Evan P. Garcia of the Philippine Mission to the United Nations Office and Other International Organizations, underlined the importance of the Country Cooperation Strategies (CCS) as the basis of the relationship between countries and this member-state-led Organization. The Philippines-WHO CCS was jointly crafted by the DOH and the WHO and supports national priorities.
The Ambassador also championed the Philippines-WHO Country Strategy which was presented at the WHO last year as an example for others to follow in crafting country cooperation strategies. The PH-WHO CCS is in support of national priorities set out in the Philippine Health Agenda 2016-2022 and is fully aligned with the Duterte zero to 10 point socio-economic agenda, with the goal of achieving the best possible health outcomes for the Filipino people.
Ambassador Garcia headed the Philippine delegation at the request of the Department of Health. Also with the delegation are the DOH’s Director Maylene Beltran from the Bureau of International Health Cooperation and Dr. Rosalind Viazon from the Disease Prevention and Control Bureau. END
For more information, visit www.genevapm.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/genevapcg.