The WHO Centre for Health Development (WHO Kobe Centre – WKC) hosted the 28th annual meeting of the Advisory Committee (ACWKC) in Kobe, Japan on 25 – 26 November 2024.
The WHO Director-General appoints the Advisory Committee which represents WHO’s six regions, the host country, local community, and donor group [1] . The ACWKC advises on strategic priorities, strengthening research programmes and local engagement, and makes recommendations.
This year, WKC Director Dr Sarah Barber, welcomed three new members: Professor Lubna Al-Ansary, professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at King Saud University, representing WHO in the Eastern Mediterranean Region; Professor Sebastiana Kalula, emeritus professor at the University of Cape Town, representing WHO in the African Region; and Dr Lepani Waqatakirewa, president of the Public Health Association of Fiji representing WHO in the Western Pacific Region.
The Chair of the ACWKC, Dr Viroj Tangcharoensathien, Senior Advisor, International Health Policy Programme of the Ministry of Public Health in Thailand, said that WKC’s three research portfolios of service delivery and financing, metrics and measurement, and health emergencies and disaster risk management (Health EDRM) were globally relevant, demonstrated global impacts and supported global health policy commitments.
Significant achievements were made on all research portfolios and local engagement. In the area of UHC service delivery and innovations, a critical achievement was the work on analysing behavioural responses to COVID-19 among residents of Kobe, Japan which was not only a global contribution but responded to Kobe City’s priorities.
Major achievements in the area of sustainable financing were on “Purchasing arrangements for quality services for chronic diseases”, “The impact of population ageing on revenue generation for health and health expenditures”, and “Investing in long term care.”
On UHC metrics and measurement, the WKC was commended for its work on financial protection analysis (including forgone care and unmet need) with a focus on older people, and equity analysis (including unmet need) in service coverage of older people.
In the field of health emergencies and disaster risk management (Health EDRM), achievements included WKC’s work as the secretariat of the Health EDRM Research Network worldwide, the WHO Guidance on Research Methods for Health EDRM which is regularly updated, and the Centre’s work on mental health and psychosocial support in the context of health emergencies.
The ACWKC congratulated WKC on implementing last year’s recommendations and its impressive performance on research, publications, and local engagement, including contributions to the biennial WHO-World Bank Tracking Universal Health Coverage: Global Monitoring Reports, the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021-2030), and Health EDRM planning and programmes.
The current third Memorandum of Understanding with the donor group will conclude by 31 March 2026. Funding beyond that is currently not secured, and the Advisory Committee made five specific recommendations in this regard. The meeting report will be released shortly.
[1] Hyogo Prefecture, Kobe City, Kobe Steel, Ltd., and the Kobe Chamber of Commerce and Industry.