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RESOLUTIONS
WHA60.1 Smallpox eradication: destruction of variola virus stocks
The Sixtieth World Health Assembly,
Recalling resolution WHA49.10, which recommended a date for the destruction of the
remaining stocks of variola virus, subject to a decision by the Health Assembly, and resolution
WHA52.10, which authorized temporary retention of the virus stocks to a later date, subject to annual
review by the Health Assembly;
Noting that the Health Assembly decided in resolution WHA55.15 to authorize further,
temporary, retention subject to all approved research being outcome-oriented, time-limited and
periodically reviewed and to a proposed new date for destruction being set when research
accomplishments and outcomes allowed consensus to be reached on the timing of destruction of
variola virus stocks;
Noting that authorization was granted to permit essential research for global public-health
purposes, including further international research into antiviral agents and improved and safer
vaccines, and for high priority investigations of the genetic structure of the virus and the pathogenesis
of smallpox;
Noting that resolution WHA52.10 requested the Director-General to appoint a group of experts
that would establish what research, if any, must be carried out in order to reach global consensus on
the timing for destruction of existing variola virus stocks;
Recalling the decisions of previous Health Assemblies that the remaining stocks of the variola
virus should be destroyed;
Recognizing that the destruction of all variola virus stocks is an irrevocable event and that the
decision of when to do so must be made with great care;
Recalling resolution WHA55.16, which called for a global public-health response to natural
occurrence, accidental release or deliberate use of biological and chemical agents or radionuclear
material that affect health;
Further recognizing that unknown stocks of live variola virus might exist, and that the deliberate
or accidental release of any smallpox viruses would be a catastrophic event for the global community;
Having considered the report on smallpox eradication: destruction of variola virus stocks and
the report of the eighth meeting of the WHO Advisory Committee on Variola Virus Research;
1
Noting with satisfaction the considerable progress achieved in the development of antiviral
agents, improved and safer vaccines, and sensitive and specific diagnostic tests, and in sequencing of
entire genomes of viruses from numerous different strains;
1
Documents A60/9 and A60/40 respectively.
46 SIXTIETH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY
Aware that no antiviral agents for smallpox have been licensed, that live variola virus will be
needed to ensure efficacy testing in vitro, and that further refinement of the animal model might be
needed to make it more suitable for efficacy testing of these agents;
Further noting that the WHO-led inspections in 2005 of the two authorized repositories
reaffirmed that the safety and security of the virus stocks are satisfactory;
Noting that the WHO Advisory Committee on Variola Virus Research at its seventh meeting
perceived an urgent need to review all proposals for further research using live variola virus against
the considerable progress made to date;
1
Further noting that the Secretariat, as requested by the WHO Advisory Committee, has
identified a format for research proposals and has established a protocol and time frame for their
submission to the Committee for its consideration, and that approved research is reported to WHO
according to an established protocol,
1. STRONGLY REAFFIRMS the decisions of previous Health Assemblies that the remaining
stocks of variola virus should be destroyed;
2. FURTHER REAFFIRMS:
(1) the need to reach consensus on a proposed new date for the destruction of variola virus
stocks, when research outcomes crucial to an improved public-health response to an outbreak so
permit;
(2) the decision in resolution WHA55.15 (to continue the work of the Advisory Committee
on Variola Virus Research with respect to the research involving variola virus stocks and to
ensure that the research programme is conducted in an open and transparent manner) that the
research programme shall be conducted in an open and transparent manner only with the
agreement and under the control of WHO;
3. DECIDES to include a substantive item: “Smallpox eradication: destruction of variola virus
stocks” on the provisional agenda of the Sixty-fourth World Health Assembly;
4. REQUESTS the Director-General:
(1) to undertake a major review in 2010 of the results of the research undertaken, currently
under way, and the plans and requirements for further essential research for global public health
purposes, taking into account the recommendations of the WHO Advisory Committee on
Variola Virus Research, so that the Sixty-fourth World Health Assembly may reach global
consensus on the timing of the destruction of existing variola virus stocks;
(2) to continue the work of the WHO Advisory Committee on Variola Virus Research, and to
disseminate its recommendations more widely to the scientific community;
(3) to review the membership of the WHO Advisory Committee and the representation of
advisers and observers at meetings of this Committee, in order to ensure balanced geographical
representation, with the inclusion of experts from developing countries and substantial
1
See document A59/10.
RESOLUTIONS AND DECISIONS 47
representation of public-health experts, and the independence of the members of this Committee
from any conflict of interest;
(4) to ensure that approved research proposals, research outcomes and the benefits of this
research are made available to all Member States;
(5) to maintain biennial inspections of the two authorized repositories in order to ensure that
conditions of storage of the virus and of research conducted in the laboratories meet the highest
requirements for biosafety and biosecurity; inspection mission-reports should be available for
public information after appropriate scientific and security redaction;
(6) to develop continually the operational framework for WHO’s smallpox vaccine reserve;
(7) to continue to report annually on progress in the research programme, biosafety,
biosecurity and related issues to the Health Assembly, through the Executive Board, and on
implementation of the recommendations of the WHO Advisory Committee on Variola Virus
Research accepted by the Director-General;
(8) to ensure that any research undertaken does not involve genetic engineering of the variola
virus;
(9) to ensure that the two authorized repositories of live virus, and any other institution that
has fragments of variola virus DNA, distribute such DNA only for purposes of research on
diagnostics, treatment and vaccines, in accordance with recommendations of the WHO
Advisory Committee on Variola Virus Research;
(10) to submit an annual detailed report to the Health Assembly, through the Executive Board,
on the research that has been completed, the results of such research, research being undertaken,
and research being planned at the two authorized repositories;
(11) to submit to the Sixty-first World Health Assembly a report on the legal status of the
variola virus strains held at the two repositories with respect to their ownership;
(12) to submit a report to the Sixty-first World Health Assembly, through the Executive
Board, on measures that promote in Member States the widest and most equitable access
possible to the outcomes of the research, including antiviral agents, vaccines and diagnostic
tools.
(Eighth plenary meeting, 18 May 2007 –
Committee A, first report)
WHA60.2 Health conditions in the occupied Palestinian territory, including east
Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan
The Sixtieth World Health Assembly,
Mindful of the basic principle established in the Constitution of WHO, which affirms that the
health of all peoples is fundamental to the attainment of peace and security;
Recalling all its previous resolutions on health conditions in the occupied Arab territories;
48 SIXTIETH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY
Expressing appreciation for the report of the Director-General on the health conditions in the
occupied Palestinian territory, including east Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan;
1
Expressing its concern at the deterioration of economic and health conditions as well as the
humanitarian crisis resulting from the continued occupation and the severe restrictions imposed by
Israel, the occupying power;
Expressing its concern also at the health crisis and rising levels of food insecurity in the
occupied Palestinian territory due to Israel’s withholding of Palestinian customs revenues;
Affirming the need for guaranteeing universal coverage of health services and for preserving the
functions of the public health services in the occupied Palestinian territory;
Recognizing that the acute shortage of financial and medical resources in the Palestinian
Ministry of Health, which is responsible for running and financing public health services, jeopardizes
the access of the Palestinian population to curative and preventive services;
Affirming the right of Palestinian patients and medical staff to have access to the Palestinian
health institutions in occupied east Jerusalem;
Deploring the incidents involving lack of respect and protection for Palestinian ambulances and
medical personnel by the Israeli army, which led to casualties among Palestinian medical personnel, as
well as the restrictions on movement imposed on them by Israel, the occupying power, in violation of
international humanitarian law;
Expressing deep concern at the grave implication of the wall on the accessibility and quality of
medical services received by the Palestinian population in the occupied Palestinian territory, including
east Jerusalem;
Expressing deep concern also at the serious implications for pregnant women and patients of
Israeli restriction of movement imposed on Palestinian ambulances and medical personnel,
1. DEMANDS that Israel, the occupying power:
(1) lift the closure in the occupied Palestinian territory, particularly the closure of the
crossing points of the occupied Gaza Strip that are causing the serious shortage of medicines
and medical supplies therein and comply in this regard with the provisions of the Israeli–
Palestinian Agreement on Movement and Access of November 2005;
(2) comply with the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the International Court of
Justice on the wall which, inter alia, has grave implications on the accessibility and quality of
medical services received by the Palestinian population in the occupied Palestinian territory,
including east Jerusalem;
(3) facilitate the access of Palestinian patients and medical staff to the Palestinian health
institutions in occupied east Jerusalem;
1
Document A60/29.
RESOLUTIONS AND DECISIONS 49
(4) pay the Palestinian Authority regularly and without delay its customs and health
insurance revenues in order to enable it to fulfil its responsibilities with respect to basic human
needs, including health services;
(5) ensure unhindered and safe passage for Palestinian ambulances as well as respect and
protection of medical personnel, in compliance with international humanitarian law;
(6) improve the living and medical conditions of Palestinian detainees, particularly children,
women and patients;
(7) facilitate the transit and entry of medicines and medical equipment to the occupied
Palestinian territory;
(8) shoulder its responsibility towards the humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people and
their daily access to humanitarian aid, including food and medicine, in compliance with
international humanitarian law;
(9) halt immediately all its practices, policies and plans, including its policy of closure, that
seriously affect the health conditions of civilians under occupation;
2. URGES Member States and intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations:
(1) to help overcome the health crisis in the occupied Palestinian territory by providing
assistance to the Palestinian people;
(2) to provide financial and technical support to public health and veterinary services in order
to implement the Palestinian national plan for fighting the potential spread of avian influenza in
the occupied Palestinian territory;
(3) to help lift the restrictions and obstacles imposed on the Palestinian people in the
occupied Palestinian territory;
(4) to support and assist the Palestinian Ministry of Health in carrying out its duties,
including running and financing public health services;
(5) to remind Israel, the occupying Power, to abide by the Fourth Geneva Convention relative
to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 1949;
3. EXPRESSES its deep appreciation to the Director-General for:
(1) the efforts to provide necessary assistance to the Palestinian people in the occupied
Palestinian territory, including east Jerusalem, and to the Syrian population in the occupied
Syrian Golan;
(2) organizing a one-day emergency meeting on the health crisis in the occupied Palestinian
territory and for the assistance provided as a result thereof;
4. REQUESTS the Director-General:
(1) to provide support to the Palestinian health and veterinary services in establishing a
modern public health laboratory able to diagnose avian influenza in humans and animals;
50 SIXTIETH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY
(2) to submit a fact-finding report on the health and economic situation in the occupied
Palestinian territory, including east Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan;
(3) to provide health-related technical assistance to the Syrian population in the occupied
Syrian Golan;
(4) to continue providing necessary technical assistance to meet the health needs of the
Palestinian people, including the handicapped and injured;
(5) to support the development of the health system in Palestine, including development of
human resources;
(6) to assist in determining the so far inexplicable causes of fatal injuries and suffering
afflicting Palestinian victims of Israeli attacks;
(7) to report on implementation of this resolution to the Sixty-first World Health Assembly.
(Ninth plenary meeting, 21 May 2007 –
Committee B, first report)
WHA60.3 Unaudited interim financial report on the accounts of WHO for 2006
and comments thereon made by the Programme, Budget and
Administration Committee of the Executive Board
The Sixtieth World Health Assembly,
Having examined the unaudited interim financial report for the year 2006;
1
Having noted the first report of the Programme, Budget and Administration Committee of the
Executive Board to the Sixtieth World Health Assembly,
2
ACCEPTS the Director-General’s unaudited interim financial report for the year 2006.
(Ninth plenary meeting, 21 May 2007 –
Committee B, first report)
1
Documents A60/30 and A60/30 Add.1.
2
Document A60/41.
RESOLUTIONS AND DECISIONS 51
WHA60.4 Status of collection of assessed contributions, including Member States
in arrears in the payment of their contributions to an extent that would
justify invoking Article 7 of the Constitution
The Sixtieth World Health Assembly,
Having considered the third report of the Programme, Budget and Administration Committee of
the Executive Board to the Sixtieth World Health Assembly on Status of collection of assessed
contributions, including Member States in arrears in the payment of their contributions to an extent
that would justify invoking Article 7 of the Constitution;
1
Noting that, at the time of opening of the Sixtieth World Health Assembly, the voting rights of
Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Central African Republic, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo,
Dominica, Guinea-Bissau, Kyrgyzstan, and Somalia were suspended, such suspension to continue
until the arrears of the Member State concerned have been reduced, at the present or future Health
Assemblies, to a level below the amount that would justify invoking Article 7 of the Constitution;
Noting that Cape Verde was in arrears at the time of the opening of the Sixtieth World Health
Assembly to such an extent that it was necessary for the Health Assembly to consider, in accordance
with Article 7 of the Constitution, whether or not the voting privileges of that country should be
suspended at the opening of the Sixty-first World Health Assembly,
DECIDES:
(1) that in accordance with the statement of principles set out in resolution WHA41.7 if, by
the time of the opening of the Sixty-first World Health Assembly, Cape Verde was still in
arrears in the payment of its contributions to an extent that would justify invoking Article 7 of
the Constitution, its voting privileges shall be suspended as from said opening;
(2) that any suspension that takes effect as aforesaid shall continue at the Sixty-first and
subsequent Health Assemblies until the arrears of Cape Verde have been reduced to a level
below the amount that would justify invoking Article 7 of the Constitution;
(3) that this decision shall be without prejudice to the right of any Member to request
restoration of its voting privileges in accordance with Article 7 of the Constitution.
(Ninth plenary meeting, 21 May 2007 –
Committee B, first report)
1
Document A60/42.
52 SIXTIETH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY
WHA60.5 Scale of assessments 2008–2009
The Sixtieth World Health Assembly,
ADOPTS the scale of assessments of Members for the biennium 2008–2009 as set out below:
Members and WHO scale
Associate Members for 2008–2009
%
Afghanistan 0.0010
Albania 0.0060
Algeria 0.0850
Andorra 0.0080
Angola 0.0030
Antigua and Barbuda 0.0020
Argentina 0.3250
Armenia 0.0020
Australia 1.7871
Austria 0.8871
Azerbaijan 0.0050
Bahamas 0.0160
Bahrain 0.0330
Bangladesh 0.0100
Barbados 0.0090
Belarus 0.0200
Belgium 1.1021
Belize 0.0010
Benin 0.0010
Bhutan 0.0010
Bolivia 0.0060
Bosnia and Herzegovina 0.0060
Botswana 0.0140
Brazil 0.8761
Brunei Darussalam 0.0260
Bulgaria 0.0200
Burkina Faso 0.0020
Burundi 0.0010
Cambodia 0.0010
Cameroon 0.0090
Canada 2.9772
Cape Verde 0.0010
Central African Republic 0.0010
Chad 0.0010
Chile 0.1610
China 2.6672
Colombia 0.1050
Comoros 0.0010
Congo 0.0010
Cook Islands 0.0010
Costa Rica 0.0320
RESOLUTIONS AND DECISIONS 53
Members and WHO scale
Associate Members for 2008–2009
%
Côte d’Ivoire 0.0090
Croatia 0.0500
Cuba 0.0540
Cyprus 0.0440
Czech Republic 0.2810
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea 0.0070
Democratic Republic of the Congo 0.0030
Denmark 0.7391
Djibouti 0.0010
Dominica 0.0010
Dominican Republic 0.0240
Ecuador 0.0210
Egypt 0.0880
El Salvador 0.0200
Equatorial Guinea 0.0020
Eritrea 0.0010
Estonia 0.0160
Ethiopia 0.0030
Fiji 0.0030
Finland 0.5640
France 6.3015
Gabon 0.0080
Gambia 0.0010
Georgia 0.0030
Germany 8.5777
Ghana 0.0040
Greece 0.5960
Grenada 0.0010
Guatemala 0.0320
Guinea 0.0010
Guinea-Bissau 0.0010
Guyana 0.0010
Haiti 0.0020
Honduras 0.0050
Hungary 0.2440
Iceland 0.0370
India 0.4500
Indonesia 0.1610
Iran (Islamic Republic of) 0.1800
Iraq 0.0150
Ireland 0.4450
Israel 0.4190
Italy 5.0794
Jamaica 0.0100
Japan 16.6253
Jordan 0.0120
Kazakhstan 0.0290
Kenya 0.0100
Kiribati 0.0010
54 SIXTIETH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY
Members and WHO scale
Associate Members for 2008–2009
%
Kuwait 0.1820
Kyrgyzstan 0.0010
Lao People’s Democratic Republic 0.0010
Latvia 0.0180
Lebanon 0.0340
Lesotho 0.0010
Liberia 0.0010
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya 0.0620
Lithuania 0.0310
Luxembourg 0.0850
Madagascar 0.0020
Malawi 0.0010
Malaysia 0.1900
Maldives 0.0010
Mali 0.0010
Malta 0.0170
Marshall Islands 0.0010
Mauritania 0.0010
Mauritius 0.0110
Mexico 2.2572
Micronesia (Federated States of) 0.0010
Monaco 0.0030
Mongolia 0.0010
Montenegro 0.0010
Morocco 0.0420
Mozambique 0.0010
Myanmar 0.0050
Namibia 0.0060
Nauru 0.0010
Nepal 0.0030
Netherlands 1.8731
New Zealand 0.2560
Nicaragua 0.0020
Niger 0.0010
Nigeria 0.0480
Niue 0.0010
Norway 0.7821
Oman 0.0730
Pakistan 0.0590
Palau 0.0010
Panama 0.0230
Papua New Guinea 0.0020
Paraguay 0.0050
Peru 0.0780
Philippines 0.0780
Poland 0.5010
Portugal 0.5270
Puerto Rico 0.0010
Qatar 0.0850
RESOLUTIONS AND DECISIONS 55
Members and WHO scale
Associate Members for 2008–2009
%
Republic of Korea 2.1732
Republic of Moldova 0.0010
Romania 0.0700
Russian Federation 1.2001
Rwanda 0.0010
Saint Kitts and Nevis 0.0010
Saint Lucia 0.0010
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 0.0010
Samoa 0.0010
San Marino 0.0030
Sao Tome and Principe 0.0010
Saudi Arabia 0.7481
Senegal 0.0040
Serbia 0.0210
Seychelles 0.0020
Sierra Leone 0.0010
Singapore 0.3470
Slovakia 0.0630
Slovenia 0.0960
Solomon Islands 0.0010
Somalia 0.0010
South Africa 0.2900
Spain 2.9682
Sri Lanka 0.0160
Sudan 0.0100
Suriname 0.0010
Swaziland 0.0020
Sweden 1.0711
Switzerland 1.2161
Syrian Arab Republic 0.0160
Tajikistan 0.0010
Thailand 0.1860
The former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia 0.0050
Timor-Leste 0.0010
Togo 0.0010
Tokelau 0.0010
Tonga 0.0010
Trinidad and Tobago 0.0270
Tunisia 0.0310
Turkey 0.3810
Turkmenistan 0.0060
Tuvalu 0.0010
Uganda 0.0030
Ukraine 0.0450
United Arab Emirates 0.3020
United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland 6.6425
United Republic of Tanzania 0.0060
United States of America 22.0000
56 SIXTIETH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY
Members and WHO scale
Associate Members for 2008–2009
%
Uruguay 0.0270
Uzbekistan 0.0080
Vanuatu 0.0010
Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) 0.2000
Viet Nam 0.0240
Yemen 0.0070
Zambia 0.0010
Zimbabwe 0.0080
Total
100.0000
(Ninth plenary meeting, 21 May 2007 –
Committee B, first report)
WHA60.6 Assessment of new Member
The Sixtieth
World Health Assembly,
Having considered the report on the assessment of a new Member,
1
WELCOMES the Republic of Montenegro as a new Member of WHO and sets its assessment
payable of US$ 1490 for 2006 and US$ 4470 for 2007, being an assessment of 0.001%
.
2
(Ninth plenary meeting, 21 May 2007 –
Committee B, first report)
WHA60.7 Appointment of the External Auditor
The Sixtieth World Health Assembly,
RESOLVES that Comptroller and Auditor-General of India shall be appointed External Auditor
of the accounts of the World Health Organization for the financial periods 2008–2009 and 2010–2011,
that he shall audit in accordance with the principles incorporated in Regulation XIV of the Financial
Regulations and the Appendix to the Financial Regulations, and that, should the need arise, he may
designate a representative to act in his absence.
(Ninth plenary meeting, 21 May 2007 –
Committee B, first report)
1
Document A60/44.
2
See resolution WHA60.5.
RESOLUTIONS AND DECISIONS 57
WHA60.8 Financial period 2006–2007: implementation of resolution WHA58.4
The Sixtieth World Health Assembly,
Having examined the reports on Financial period 2006–2007: implementation of resolution
WHA58.4,
1
DECIDES that any Miscellaneous Income in 2006–2007 over and above the initial
US$ 31.8 million authorized in resolution WHA58.4, up to a maximum of US$ 7 million, may be used
for financing crucial information technology and other investment costs relating to the implementation
of the global management system.
2
(Ninth plenary meeting, 21 May 2007 –
Committee B, first report)
WHA60.9 Amendments to the Financial Regulations and Financial Rules:
introduction of International Public Sector Accounting Standards
3
The Sixtieth World Health Assembly,
Having considered the report on the introduction of the International Public Sector Accounting
Standards (IPSAS) and associated amendments to the Financial Regulations proposed by the Director-
General and endorsed by the Executive Board at its 120th session,
4
1. ENDORSES the introduction of IPSAS;
2. NOTES the change to the United Nations System Accounting Standards (UNSAS) that will
permit WHO to introduce IPSAS progressively;
3. Further NOTES that the Director-General shall submit to the governing bodies for consideration
at future sessions proposals to amend the Financial Regulations and Financial Rules resulting from
adoption of IPSAS;
4. ADOPTS amendments to Financial Regulation 4.4 in order to clarify operation of the exchange-
rate facility, to be effective as from 1 January 2008, and to Financial Regulation 4.5 in order to permit
regular budget resources to be carried forward to pay for commitments made before the end of a
financial period and undertaken by the end of the first year of the next financial period;
5. DELETES Financial Regulations 6.5 and 8.2 in order to terminate the financial incentive
scheme that has failed to encourage prompt payment of Member States’ assessments, to be effective as
from 1 January 2008.
(Ninth plenary meeting, 21 May 2007 –
Committee B, first report)
1
Documents A60/43, A60/43 Add.1, A60/46 and A60/46 Add.1.
2
See Annex 3 for the financial and administrative implications for the Secretariat of the resolution.
3
See Annex 1.
4
Document A60/33.
58 SIXTIETH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY
WHA60.10 Amendments to the Staff Regulations and Staff Rules
The Sixtieth World Health Assembly,
Noting the recommendations of the Executive Board with regard to remuneration of staff in
ungraded posts and of the Director-General,
1
1. ESTABLISHES the salaries of Assistant Directors-General and Regional Directors as from
1 January 2007 at US$ 168 826 per annum before staff assessment, resulting in a modified net salary
of US$ 122 737 (dependency rate) or US$ 111 142 (single rate);
2. ESTABLISHES the salary of the Deputy Director-General as from 1 January 2006 at
US$ 176 877 per annum before staff assessment, resulting in a net salary of US$ 127 970 (dependency
rate) or US$ 115 166 (single rate); and, as from 1 January 2007, at US$ 185 874 per annum before
staff assessment, resulting in a net salary of US$ 133 818 (dependency rate) or US$ 120 429 (single
rate);
3. ESTABLISHES the salary of the Director-General as from 1 January 2007 at US$ 228 818 per
annum before staff assessment, resulting in a modified net salary of US$ 161 732 (dependency rate) or
US$ 143 829 (single rate).
(Ninth plenary meeting, 21 May 2007 –
Committee B, first report)
WHA60.11 Medium-term strategic plan 2008–2013
The Sixtieth World Health Assembly,
Recalling resolution WHA59.4 on the Eleventh General Programme of Work 2006–2015;
Recognizing that the Eleventh General Programme of Work sets forth a global health agenda
and charts the broad strategic framework and direction for the work of WHO;
Noting that the Medium-term strategic plan 2008–2013 provides a flexible multibiennial
framework to guide and ensure continuity in the preparation of biennial programme budgets and
operational plans over three bienniums in line with the global health agenda established in the
Eleventh General Programme of Work;
Acknowledging that more specific priorities are set out in the Medium-term strategic plan,
defined as strategic objectives, and in the biennial programme budget, as expected results;
Noting that the proposed programme budgets 2010–2011 and 2012–2013 will be submitted to
the Sixty-second World Health Assembly and Sixty-fourth World Health Assembly, respectively, for
decision;
1
Documents A60/36 and A60/36 Corr.1.
RESOLUTIONS AND DECISIONS 59
Welcoming the cross-cutting nature of the strategic objectives that create synergies and promote
collaboration between different programmes by capturing the multiple links among determinants of
health, health outcomes, health policies, systems and technologies;
Acknowledging that the Medium-term strategic plan, by moving away from narrowly defined
areas of work to strategic objectives, provides a more strategic and flexible programme structure that
better reflects the needs of countries and regions, and facilitates more effective coordination and
collaboration across the Organization and with Member States, organizations of the United Nations
system and other stakeholders,
1. ENDORSES the Medium-term strategic plan 2008–2013;
2. CALLS UPON Member States to identify their role and actions to be taken in order to achieve
the strategic objectives contained in the Medium-term strategic plan;
3. INVITES concerned organizations of the United Nations system, international development
partners, and agencies, international financial institutions, nongovernmental organizations and private-
sector entities to consider their contribution in supporting the strategic objectives contained in the
Medium-term strategic plan;
4. DECIDES to review the Medium-term strategic plan 2008–2013 every two years in conjunction
with the proposed programme budget, with a view to revising the Medium-term strategic plan,
including its indicators and targets, as may be necessary;
5. REQUESTS the Director-General:
(1) to use the Medium-term strategic plan in providing strategic direction for the
Organization during the period 2008–2013 in order to advance the global health agenda
contained in the Eleventh General Programme of Work;
(2) to use the Medium-term strategic plan to guide preparation of the proposed programme
budgets 2008–2009, 2010–2011 and 2012–2013 and operational plans through each biennium;
(3) to collaborate with concerned organizations of the United Nations system, international
development partners and agencies, international financial institutions, nongovernmental
organizations and private-sector entities in implementing the Medium-term strategic plan;
(4) to recommend to the Health Assembly through the Executive Board, in conjunction with
the proposed programme budgets 2010–2011 and 2012–2013, revisions to the Medium-term
strategic plan as may be necessary;
(5) to report to the Sixty-second World Health Assembly through the Executive Board at its
124th session on implementation of this resolution, and to report biennially thereafter on
progress.
(Ninth plenary meeting, 21 May 2007 –
Committee A, second report)
60 SIXTIETH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY
WHA60.12 Appropriation resolution for the financial period 2008–2009
The Sixtieth World Health Assembly,
1. NOTES the total effective budget under all sources of funds of US$ 4 227 480 000;
2. RESOLVES to appropriate for the financial period 2008–2009 an amount of
US$ 1 038 840 000, financed by net assessments on Members of US$ 928 840 000, estimated
Miscellaneous Income of US$ 30 000 000, and transfer to Tax Equalization Fund of US$ 80 000 000,
as shown below:
Appropriation
section
Purpose of appropriation
Appropriations financed by net
assessments and Miscellaneous
Income
US$
1 To reduce the health, social and economic burden
of communicable diseases
85 368 000
2 To combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis 48 996 000
3 To prevent and reduce disease, disability and
premature death from chronic noncommunicable
conditions, mental disorders, violence, injuries and
visual impairment
45 215 000
4 To reduce morbidity and mortality and improve
health during key stages of life, including
pregnancy, childbirth, the neonatal period,
childhood and adolescence, and improve sexual and
reproductive health and promote active and healthy
ageing for all individuals
55 909 000
5 To reduce the health consequences of emergencies,
disasters, crises and conflicts, and minimize their
social and economic impact
17 631 000
6 To promote health and development, and prevent or
reduce risk factors for health conditions associated
with use of tobacco, alcohol, drugs and other
psychoactive substances, unhealthy diets, physical
inactivity and unsafe sex
39 077 000
7 To address the underlying social and economic
determinants of health through policies and
programmes that enhance health equity and
integrate pro-poor, gender-responsive, and human
rights-based approaches
14 427 000
8 To promote a healthier environment, intensify
primary prevention and influence public policies in
all sectors so as to address the root causes of
environmental threats to health
32 736 000
9 To improve nutrition, food safety and food security
throughout the life-course and in support of public
health and sustainable development
23 054 000
RESOLUTIONS AND DECISIONS 61
Appropriation
section
Purpose of appropriation
Appropriations financed by net
assessments and Miscellaneous
Income
US$
10 To improve health services through better
governance, financing, staffing and management,
informed by reliable and accessible evidence and
research
139 630 000
11 To ensure improved access, quality and use of
medical products and technologies
31 244 000
12 To provide leadership, strengthen governance and
foster partnership and collaboration with countries,
the United Nations system, and other stakeholders
in order to fulfill the mandate of WHO in advancing
the global health agenda as set out in the Eleventh
General Programme of Work
139 448 000
13 To develop and sustain WHO as a flexible, learning
organization, enabling it to carry out its mandate
more efficiently and effectively
286 105 000
Effective working budget
958 840 000
14 Transfer to Tax Equalization Fund 80 000 000
Total
1 038 840 000
3. FURTHER RESOLVES that:
(1) notwithstanding the provisions of Financial Regulation 4.3, the Director-General is
authorized to make transfers between the appropriation sections of the effective working budget
up to an amount not exceeding 10% of the amount appropriated for the section from which the
transfer is made; all such transfers shall be reported in the financial report for the financial
period 2008–2009; any other transfers required shall be made and reported in accordance with
the provisions of Financial Regulation 4.3;
(2) amounts not exceeding the appropriations voted under paragraph 1 shall be available for
the payment of obligations incurred during the financial period 1 January 2008 to 31 December
2009 in accordance with the provisions of the Financial Regulations; notwithstanding the
provisions of the present paragraph, the Director-General shall limit the obligations to be
incurred during the financial period 2008–2009 to sections 1 to 13;
(3) the amount of the contribution to be paid by individual Members shall be reduced by the
sum standing to their credit in the Tax Equalization Fund; that reduction shall be adjusted in the
case of those Members that require staff members to pay income taxes on their WHO
emoluments, taxes which the Organization reimburses to said staff members; the amount of
such tax reimbursements is estimated at US$ 11 284 310, resulting in a total assessment on
Members of US$ 940 124 310;
4. DECIDES that the Working Capital Fund shall remain at the level of US$ 31 000 000, as earlier
decided under resolution WHA56.32;
62 SIXTIETH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY
5. NOTES that the expenditure in the Proposed programme budget 2008–2009 to be financed by
voluntary contributions is estimated at US$ 3 268 640 000, as shown below:
Appropriation
section
Purpose Amount
US$
1 To reduce the health, social and economic burden
of communicable diseases
808 675 000
2 To combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis 657 936 000
3 To prevent and reduce disease, disability and
premature death from chronic noncommunicable
conditions, mental disorders, violence, injuries and
visual impairment
112 889 000
4 To reduce morbidity and mortality and improve
health during key stages of life, including
pregnancy, childbirth, the neonatal period,
childhood and adolescence, and improve sexual and
reproductive health and promote active and healthy
ageing for all individuals
303 924 000
5 To reduce the health consequences of emergencies,
disasters, crises and conflicts, and minimize their
social and economic impact
200 782 000
6 To promote health and development, and prevent or
reduce risk factors for health conditions associated
with use of tobacco, alcohol, drugs and other
psychoactive substances, unhealthy diets, physical
inactivity and unsafe sex
122 980 000
7 To address the underlying social and economic
determinants of health through policies and
programmes that enhance health equity and
integrate pro-poor, gender-responsive, and human
rights-based approaches
51 478 000
8 To promote a healthier environment, intensify
primary prevention and influence public policies in
all sectors so as to address the root causes of
environmental threats to health
97 720 000
9 To improve nutrition, food safety and food security
throughout the life-course and in support of public
health and sustainable development
103 880 000
10 To improve health services through better
governance, financing, staffing and management,
informed by reliable and accessible evidence and
research
374 424 000
11 To ensure improved access, quality and use of
medical products and technologies
102 789 000
RESOLUTIONS AND DECISIONS 63
Appropriation
section
Purpose Amount
US$
12 To provide leadership, strengthen governance and
foster partnership and collaboration with countries,
the United Nations system, and other stakeholders
in order to fulfill the mandate of WHO in advancing
the global health agenda as set out in the Eleventh
General Programme of Work
74 896 000
13 To develop and sustain WHO as a flexible, learning
organization, enabling it to carry out its mandate
more efficiently and effectively
256 267 000
Total
3 268 640 000
(Ninth plenary meeting, 21 May 2007 –
Committee A, second report)
WHA60.13 Control of leishmaniasis
The Sixtieth World Health Assembly,
Having considered the report on control of leishmaniasis;
1
Recognizing that leishmaniasis is one of the most neglected tropical diseases, and that more
than 12 million people worldwide are currently infected, with two million new cases each year;
Noting with concern that 350 million people are considered at risk and the number of new cases
is on the increase;
Recognizing the lack of accurate information on the epidemiology of the disease for better
understanding of the disease and its control;
Noting with concern that the disease affects the poorest populations in 88 countries, placing a
heavy economic burden on families, communities and countries, particularly developing countries;
Noting the burden that treatment can place on families;
Bearing in mind that malnutrition and food insecurity are often identified as major causes of
disposition to, and severity of, leishmaniasis;
Acknowledging the significant support extended by Member States and other partners and
appreciating their continuing cooperation;
1
Document A60/10.
64 SIXTIETH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY
Acknowledging that relevant Member States from the South-East Asia Region have committed
themselves to collaborate in efforts to eliminate visceral leishmaniasis (kala-azar) from the Region by
2015,
1
1. URGES Member States where leishmaniasis is a substantial public-health problem:
(1) to reinforce efforts to set up national control programmes that would draw up guidelines
and establish systems for surveillance, data collection and analysis;
(2) to strengthen prevention, active detection and treatment of cases of both cutaneous and
visceral leishmaniasis in order to decrease the disease burden;
(3) to strengthen the capacity of peripheral health centres to deliver primary and secondary
care, so that they provide appropriate affordable diagnosis and treatment and act as sentinel
surveillance sites;
(4) to conduct epidemiological assessments in order to map foci, and to calculate the real
impact of leishmaniasis through accurate studies of prevalence and incidence, socioeconomic
impact and access to prevention and care, and the extent of the disease in those affected by
malnutrition and HIV;
(5) to strengthen collaboration between countries that share common foci or disease threats;
to establish a decentralized structure in areas with major foci of disease, strengthening
collaboration between countries that share common foci, increasing the number of WHO
collaborating centres for leishmaniasis and giving them a greater role, and relying on initiatives
taken by the various actors and interagency collaboration at national and international levels in
all aspects of leishmaniasis control, detection and treatment, such initiatives being encouraged
with the private sector by national control programmes;
(6) to promote the sustainability of surveillance and leishmaniasis control;
(7) to improve knowledge about, and skills to prevent, leishmaniasis among people in rural
areas, and improve their socioeconomic status in order to combat leishmaniasis;
(8) to support studies on the surveillance and control of leishmaniasis;
(9) to share experiences in the development of studies of, and technologies on, the prevention
and control of leishmaniasis;
2. FURTHER URGES Member States:
(1) to advocate high-quality and affordable medicines, and appropriate national drug policies;
(2) to encourage research on leishmaniasis control in order:
(a) to identify appropriate and effective methods of control of vectors and reservoirs;
(b) to find alternative safe, effective and affordable medicines for oral, parenteral or
topical administration involving shorter treatment cycles, less toxicity, and new drug
1
Memorandum of understanding on Elimination of Kala-azar in the South-East Asia Region, 18 May 2005.
RESOLUTIONS AND DECISIONS 65
combinations, and to define appropriate doses and duration of therapy schedules for these
medicines;
(c) to determine mechanisms to facilitate access to existing control measures,
including socioeconomic studies and health-sector reform in some developing countries;
(d) to evaluate and improve sensitivity and specificity of serological diagnostic
methods for canine and human visceral leishmaniasis, including assessment of
standardization and effectiveness;
(e) to evaluate effectiveness of alternative control measures such as use of bednets
impregnated with long-lasting insecticide;
3. CALLS ON partner bodies to maintain and expand their support for national leishmaniasis
prevention and control programmes and, as appropriate, to accelerate research on, and development of,
leishmaniasis vaccine;
4. REQUESTS the Director-General:
(1) to raise awareness of the global burden of leishmaniasis, and to promote equitable access
to health services for disease prevention and management;
(2) to draft guidelines on prevention and management of leishmaniasis, with emphasis on
updating the report of WHO’s Expert Committee on Leishmaniasis,
1
with a view to elaborating
regional plans and fostering the establishment of regional groups of experts;
(3) to strengthen collaborative efforts among multisectoral stakeholders, interested
organizations and other bodies in order to support the development and implementation of
leishmaniasis control programmes;
(4) to frame a policy for leishmaniasis control, with the technical support of WHO’s Expert
Advisory Panel on Leishmaniasis;
(5) to promote research pertaining to leishmaniasis control, including in the areas of safe,
effective and affordable vaccines, diagnostic tools and medicines with less toxicity, and
dissemination of the findings of that research, notably thorough the UNICEF/UNDP/World
Bank/WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases;
(6) to monitor progress in the control of leishmaniasis in collaboration with international
partners, WHO regional offices and Member States affected by leishmaniasis;
(7) to promote action with the major laboratories in order to reduce the costs of medicines to
developing countries;
(8) to promote and support:
(a) evaluation of the efficacy of new medicines,
(b) evaluation of dosage and length of treatment for existing medicines,
(c) standardization of diagnostic reagents, in particular for visceral leishmaniasis;
1
WHO Technical Report Series, 1990, No. 793.
66 SIXTIETH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY
(9) to facilitate improved coordination among multilateral institutions and international
donors concerned with leishmaniasis;
(10) to report to the Sixty-third World Health Assembly on progress achieved, problems
encountered and further actions proposed in the implementation of leishmaniasis control
programmes;
(Ninth plenary meeting, 21 May 2007 –
Committee A, second report)
WHA60.14 Poliomyelitis: mechanism for management of potential risks to
eradication
The Sixtieth World Health Assembly,
Having considered the report on eradication of poliomyelitis;
1
Recalling resolution WHA59.1, urging Member States in which poliomyelitis is endemic to act
on their commitment to interrupting transmission of wild poliovirus;
Recognizing that the occurrence of endemic poliovirus is now restricted to geographically
limited areas in four countries;
Recognizing the need for international consensus on long-term policies to minimize and manage
the risks of re-emergence of poliomyelitis in the post-eradication era;
Recognizing that travellers from areas where poliovirus is still circulating may pose a risk of
international spread of the virus;
Noting that the maintenance of high routine immunization coverage in poliomyelitis-free
countries contributes to reducing the risk of outbreaks of disease due to wild poliovirus and minimizes
the risk of outbreaks due to vaccine-derived poliovirus;
Noting that planning for such international consensus must commence in the near future,
1. URGES all Member States where poliomyelitis is still prevalent in certain geographical areas,
especially the four countries in which poliomyelitis is endemic:
(1) to establish mechanisms to enhance political commitment to, and engagement in,
poliomyelitis eradication activities at all levels, and to engage local leadership and members of
the remaining poliomyelitis-affected populations in order to ensure full acceptance of, and
participation in, poliomyelitis immunization campaigns;
(2) to intensify poliomyelitis eradication activities in order rapidly to interrupt all remaining
transmission of wild poliovirus;
1
Document A60/11.
RESOLUTIONS AND DECISIONS 67
2. URGES all Member States:
(1) to review and, if appropriate, update national recommendations on immunization against
poliomyelitis in order to reduce the risk of international spread of disease;
(2) to reduce the potential consequences of international spread of wild poliovirus by
achieving and maintaining routine immunization coverage against poliomyelitis greater than
90% and, where appropriate, conducting supplementary poliomyelitis immunization activities
through additional campaigns in close collaboration with mass media and involvement of the
general public;
(
3)
to strengthen active surveillance for acute flaccid paralysis in order rapidly to detect any
circulating wild poliovirus and prepare for certification of poliomyelitis eradication;
(4) to prepare for the long-term biocontainment of polioviruses by implementing the
measures set out under phases 1 and 2 in the current edition of the WHO global action plan for
laboratory containment of wild polioviruses;
1
3. REQUESTS the Director-General:
(1) to continue to provide technical support to the remaining Member States where
poliomyelitis is still prevalent in their efforts to interrupt the final chains of transmission of wild
poliovirus, and to Member States at high risk of an importation of poliovirus;
(2) to assist in mobilizing financial resources to eradicate poliomyelitis from the remaining
areas where poliovirus is circulating, to provide support to countries currently free of
poliomyelitis that are at high risk of an importation of poliovirus, and to minimize the risks of
re-emergence of poliomyelitis in the post-eradication era;
(3) to continue to work with other organizations of the United Nations system on security
issues, through mechanisms such as “days of tranquillity”, in areas where better access is
required to reach all children;
(4) to continue to examine and disseminate measures that Member States can take for
reducing the risk and consequences of international spread of polioviruses, including, if and
when needed, consideration of temporary or standing recommendations under the International
Health Regulations (2005); if such a recommendation were made, to report to the Health
Assembly the financial and operational issues arising from its implementation, and lessons
drawn;
(5) to submit proposals to the Sixty-first World Health Assembly with a view to minimizing
the long-term risks of reintroduction of poliovirus or re-emergence of poliomyelitis in the post-
eradication era by establishing international consensus on the long-term use of poliomyelitis
vaccines and biocontainment of infectious and potentially infectious poliovirus materials.
(Ninth plenary meeting, 21 May 2007 –
Committee A, second report)
1
Document WHO/V&B/03.11 (second edition).
68 SIXTIETH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY
WHA60.15 WHO’s role and responsibilities in health research
The Sixtieth World Health Assembly,
Recalling resolution WHA58.34 on the Ministerial Summit on Health Research;
Having considered the report on WHO’s role and responsibilities in health research;
1
Acknowledging the critical role of the entire spectrum of health and medical research in
improving human health;
Recognizing that research into poverty and inequity in health is limited, and that the ensuing
evidence is important to guide policy in order to minimize gaps;
Reaffirming that research to strengthen health systems is fundamental for achieving
internationally agreed health-related development goals, including those contained in the United
Nations Millennium Declaration;
Recognizing that a wide gap exists between developed and developing countries in the capacity
for health research, that it may hamper efforts to achieve better health results, and that it may
contribute to worsening the brain drain;
Noting in particular the work of IARC, the WHO Centre for Health Development, the
UNICEF/UNDP/World Bank/WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical
Diseases, and the UNDP/UNFPA/WHO/World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development
and Research Training in Human Reproduction;
Convinced that research findings and data derived from effective health-information systems
should be used to inform decisions on the delivery of interventions to those who need them most;
Mindful that the Organization should lead by example in the use of research findings to inform
decisions about health;
Reaffirming the role of WHO’s cosponsored research programmes in support of neglected areas
of research relevant to poor and disadvantaged populations, particularly poverty-related diseases,
tuberculosis, malaria and AIDS, and recognizing the contributions of WHO to strengthening research
capacity;
Committed to ensuring ethical standards in the conduct of health research supported by the
Organization;
Recognizing the need to evaluate progress in health research since 2004 and to discuss the
future needs of all Member States with regard to the promotion of evidence-based health research and
policies,
1. URGES Member States:
(1) to consider implementing the recommendation made by the Commission on Health
Research for Development in 1990 that “developing countries should invest at least 2% of
1
Document A60/23.
RESOLUTIONS AND DECISIONS 69
national health expenditures in research and research capacity strengthening, and at least 5% of
project and programme aid for the health sector from development aid agencies should be
earmarked for research and research capacity strengthening”;
1
(2) to consider the development and strengthening of resource-tracking tools in order to
monitor expenditure on health research from government and donor sources, and to disseminate
relevant research findings to policy-makers, civil-society entities and the general public;
(3) to integrate research in the mainstream of national programme activities and plans, and to
promote wider access to research findings;
(4) to strengthen the capacity of national and institutional ethics committees that review
health-research proposals, as appropriate;
(5) to draw up or strengthen health-research policies and health-research legislative
documents, as appropriate;
(6) to create a sustained training programme for research managers and to facilitate a cadre of
trained professionals to manage health research, where necessary;
(7) to improve the career management of researchers who do not necessarily come under the
authority of the ministry responsible for research, as appropriate;
(8) to consider strengthening national research capacities in the following complementary
areas: generation of new knowledge, human and financial resources, research institutes and use
of research findings in policy decisions, and to foster national and international networks for
research collaboration;
(9) to develop and strengthen a participatory mechanism, as appropriate, for all stakeholders
in order to prioritize the health-research agenda on the basis of dynamic changes in health
systems, disease burden, and emerging health-related issues.
2. CALLS UPON the health-research community, other international organizations, the private
sector, civil society and other concerned stakeholders to provide strong, sustained support to research
activities across the entire spectrum of health, medical and behavioural research, especially research
into communicable diseases and poverty and inequity in health, with the participation of communities
and in keeping with national priorities, and to maintain support of activities that promote the use of
research findings to inform policy, practice and public opinion;
3. REQUESTS the Director-General:
(1) to promote and advocate research in neglected areas of importance for better health, in
particular on diseases that disproportionately affect developing countries and for poor and
disadvantaged groups;
(2) to strengthen the culture of research for evidence-based decision-making in the
Organization and to ensure that research informs its technical activities;
1
In Commission on Health Research for Development. Health research: essential link to equity in development.
New York, Oxford University Press, 1990.
70 SIXTIETH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY
(3) to develop a reporting system on WHO’s activities in health research;
(4) to improve significantly coordination of relevant research activities, including integration
of research into disease control and prevention, and to designate one focal point within the
Organization who has the overview of all WHO’s research activities;
(5) to review the use of research evidence for major policy decisions and recommendations
within WHO;
(6) to establish transparent mechanisms for prioritization of research activities and projects
within WHO, including independent peer-review mechanisms, and selection criteria such as
relevance and scientific quality;
(7) to establish standard procedures and mechanisms for the conduct of research and use of
findings by the Organization, including registration of its research proposals in a publicly
accessible database, peer review of proposals, and dissemination of findings;
(8) to advise Member States, when requested, on ways to organize systems for research for
better health;
(9) to promote better access to relevant research findings, including by supporting the
movement towards open access to scientific journals;
(10) to provide support to Member States in order to develop capacities for
health-systems and health-policy research, where necessary;
(11) to provide technical support to Member States for strengthening the capacity of national
and institutional health-research ethics committees, reviewing complex research protocols, and
drafting national health policies and health-research legislative documents;
(12) to identify and implement mechanisms to provide better support to countries and regions
in recognizing and maximizing health research as a key factor in the development of health
systems, in particular in developing countries;
(13) to formulate simple priority-setting strategies for health research for use by national
governments, where appropriate;
(14) to institute appropriate systems and mechanisms for greater interaction and convergence
among researchers and users of relevant research in order to improve use of research findings
and to enhance framing of health policy;
(15) to provide capacity-building opportunities in health economics, assessment of health
technology, economic impact of disease, and costing of various interventions so that a country
may optimize its health-system delivery;
(16) to build up capacity in order to monitor and report to Member States on total expenditure
on health research by country and region, by public and donor sources, and by type of
expenditure;
RESOLUTIONS AND DECISIONS 71
(17) to submit to the Sixty-second World Health Assembly a strategy for the management and
organization of research activities within WHO;
(18) to convene a ministerial conference on health research, open to all Member States, in
Bamako, November 2008.
(Eleventh plenary meeting, 23 May 2007 –
Committee B, second report)
WHA60.16 Progress in the rational use of medicines
The Sixtieth World Health Assembly,
Having considered the report on rational use of medicines: progress in implementing the
WHO medicines strategy;
1
Recalling the report on rational use of medicines by prescribers and patients discussed at the
Fifty-eighth World Health Assembly and followed by adoption of resolution WHA58.27 on
antimicrobial resistance;
Recalling resolutions WHA39.27, WHA41.16 and WHA47.13 on the rational use of drugs,
WHA41.17, WHA45.30 and WHA47.16 on ethical criteria for medicinal drug promotion, WHA43.20
and WHA45.27 on the WHO Action Programme on Essential Drugs, WHA47.12 on the role of the
pharmacist, WHA49.14 and WHA52.19 on the revised drug strategy, WHA51.9 on cross-border
advertising, promotion and sale of medical products using the Internet, and WHA54.11 on the
WHO medicines strategy;
Recognizing the efforts of WHO, in collaboration with governments, universities, the private
sector and nongovernmental organizations, in areas related to health-care delivery systems and health-
insurance programmes in order to improve the use of medicines by prescribers, dispensers and
patients;
Aware of the core components of WHO’s strategy for promoting the rational use of medicines;
2
Wishing to promote evidence-based rational use of medicines by providers and consumers and
better access to essential medicines;
Aware that irrational use of medicines continues to be an urgent and widespread problem in the
public and private health sector in developed and developing countries, with serious consequences in
terms of poor patient outcome, adverse drug reactions, increasing antimicrobial resistance and wasted
resources;
Acknowledging that successful implementation of previous resolutions on antimicrobial
resistance cannot be achieved without addressing the global problem of irrational use of medicines;
1
Document A60/24.
2
Document WHO/EDM/2004.5.
72 SIXTIETH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY
Recognizing that many countries do not have a stringent drug-regulatory authority nor a full
national programme or body to promote rational use of medicines;
Emphasizing that global initiatives to increase access to essential medicines should adhere to the
principle of rational use of medicines, and include adherence by patients;
Concerned that insufficient attention and resources are being directed towards tackling the
problem of irrational use of medicines by prescribers, dispensers and consumers;
Emphasizing the need for a comprehensive, sustainable, national and sector-wide approach to
promote the rational use of medicines;
Recognizing that financing of medicines and methods of arrangements for provider payments
can have a major impact on rational use, and that appropriate policies on financing health care are
required;
Recognizing that there may be incentives for the irrational use of medicines throughout the
health system, for example, in some circumstances which give rise to conflict of interest;
Concerned that direct-to-consumer or Internet sales may give rise to irrational use of medicines;
Convinced that it is time for governments, the health professions, civil society, the private sector
and the international community to pledge their commitment, including adequate resources, to
promoting the rational use of medicines,
1. URGES Member States:
1
(1) to invest sufficiently in human resources and provide adequate financing for
strengthening institutional capacity in order to ensure more appropriate use of medicines in both
the public and private sectors;
(2) to consider establishing and/or strengthening, as appropriate, a national drug regulatory
authority and a full national programme and/or multidisciplinary body, involving civil society
and professional bodies, to monitor and promote the rational use of medicine;
(3) to consider developing, strengthening and implementing, where appropriate, the
application of an essential medicines list into the benefit package of the existing or new
insurance funds;
(4) to develop and strengthen existing training programmes on rational use of medicines, to
ensure that they are taken into account in the curricula for all health professionals and medical
students, including their continuing education, where appropriate, and to promote programmes
of public education in rational use of medicines;
(5) to enact new, or enforce existing, legislation to ban inaccurate, misleading or unethical
promotion of medicines, to monitor promotion of medicines, and to develop and implement
programmes that will provide independent, nonpromotional information about medicines;
1
And regional economic integration organizations, where appropriate.
RESOLUTIONS AND DECISIONS 73
(6) to develop and implement national policies and programmes for improving use of
medicines, including clinical guidelines and essential medicines lists, as appropriate, with an
emphasis on multifaceted interventions targeting both the public and private health sectors, and
involving providers and consumers;
(7) to consider developing, and strengthening where appropriate, the capacity of hospital
drug and therapeutic committees to promote the rational use of medicines;
(8) to expand to national level sustainable interventions successfully implemented at local
level;
2. REQUESTS the Director-General:
(1) to strengthen the leadership and evidence-based advocacy role of WHO in promoting
rational use of medicines;
(2) in collaboration with governments and civil society, to strengthen WHO’s technical
support to Member States in their efforts to establish or strengthen, where appropriate,
multidisciplinary national bodies for monitoring use of medicines, and implementing national
programmes for the rational use of medicines;
(3) to strengthen the coordination of international financial and technical support for rational
use of medicines;
(4) to promote research, particularly on development of sustainable interventions for rational
use of medicines at all levels of the health sector, both public and private;
(5) to promote discussion among health authorities, professionals and patients on the rational
use of medicines;
(6) to report to the Sixty-second World Health Assembly, and subsequently biennially, on
progress achieved, problems encountered and further actions proposed in the implementation of
WHO’s programmes to promote rational use of medicines.
(Eleventh plenary meeting, 23 May 2007 –
Committee B, second report)
WHA60.17 Oral health: action plan for promotion and integrated disease
prevention
The Sixtieth World Health Assembly,
Recalling resolutions WHA22.30, WHA28.64 and WHA31.50 on fluoridation and dental health,
WHA36.14 on oral health in the strategy for health for all, WHA42.39 on oral health; WHA56.1 and
WHA59.17 on the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control; WHA58.22 on cancer
prevention and control; WHA57.14 on scaling up treatment and care within a coordinated and
comprehensive response to HIV/AIDS; WHA57.16 on health promotion and healthy lifestyles;
WHA57.17 on the Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health; WHA58.16 on
strengthening active and healthy ageing; WHA51.18 and WHA53.17 on prevention and control of
noncommunicable diseases, and WHA58.26 on public-health problems caused by harmful use of
alcohol;
74 SIXTIETH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY
Having considered the report on oral health: action plan for promotion and integrated disease
prevention;
1
Acknowledging the intrinsic link between oral health, general health and quality of life;
Emphasizing the need to incorporate programmes for promotion of oral health and prevention of
oral diseases into programmes for the integrated prevention and treatment of chronic diseases;
Aware that the importance of the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases has been
highlighted in the Eleventh General Programme of Work 2006–2015;
Appreciating the role that WHO collaborating centres, partners and nongovernmental
organizations play in improving oral health globally,
1. URGES Member States:
(1) to adopt measures to ensure that oral health is incorporated as appropriate into policies for
the integrated prevention and treatment of chronic noncommunicable diseases and
communicable diseases, and into maternal and child health policies;
(2) to take measures to ensure that evidence-based approaches are used to incorporate oral
health into national policies as appropriate for integrated prevention and control of
noncommunicable diseases;
(3) to consider mechanisms to provide coverage of the population with essential oral-health
care, to incorporate oral health in the framework of enhanced primary health care for chronic
noncommunicable diseases, and to promote the availability of oral-health services that should
be directed towards disease prevention and health promotion for poor and disadvantaged
populations, in collaboration with integrated programmes for the prevention of chronic
noncommunicable diseases;
(4) for those countries without access to optimal levels of fluoride, and which have not yet
established systematic fluoridation programmes, to consider the development and
implementation of fluoridation programmes, giving priority to equitable strategies such as the
automatic administration of fluoride, for example, in drinking-water, salt or milk, and to the
provision of affordable fluoride toothpaste;
(5) to take steps to ensure that prevention of oral cancer is an integral part of national cancer-
control programmes, and to involve oral-health professionals or primary health care personnel
with relevant training in oral health in detection, early diagnosis and treatment;
(6) to take steps to ensure the prevention of oral disease associated with HIV/AIDS, and the
promotion of oral health and quality of life for people living with HIV, involving oral-health
professionals or staff who are specially trained in primary health care, and applying primary
oral-health care where possible;
(7) to develop and implement the promotion of oral health and prevention of oral disease for
preschool and school children as part of activities in health-promoting schools;
1
Document A60/16.
RESOLUTIONS AND DECISIONS 75
(8) to scale up capacity to produce oral-health personnel, including dental hygienists, nurses
and auxiliaries, providing for equitable distribution of these auxiliaries to the primary-care level,
and ensuring proper service back-up by dentists through appropriate referral systems;
(9) to develop and implement, in countries affected by noma, programmes to control the
disease within national programmes for the integrated management of childhood illness,
maternal care and reduction of malnutrition and poverty, in line with internationally agreed
health-related development goals, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration;
(10) to incorporate an oral-health information system into health surveillance plans so that
oral-health objectives are in keeping with international standards, and to evaluate progress in
promoting oral health;
(11) to strengthen oral-health research and use evidence-based oral-health promotion and
disease prevention in order to consolidate and adapt oral-health programmes, and to encourage
the intercountry exchange of reliable knowledge and experience of community oral-health
programmes;
(12) to address human resources and workforce planning for oral health as part of every
national plan for health;
(13) to increase, as appropriate, the budgetary provisions dedicated to the prevention and
control of oral and craniofacial diseases and conditions;
(14) to strengthen partnerships and shared responsibility among stakeholders in order to
maximize resources in support of national oral health programmes;
2. REQUESTS the Director-General:
(1) to raise awareness of the global challenges to improving oral health, and the specific and
unique needs of low- and middle-income countries and of poor and disadvantaged population
groups;
(2) to ensure that the Organization, at global and regional levels, provides advice and
technical support, on request, to Member States for the development and implementation of
oral-health programmes within integrated approaches to monitoring, prevention and
management of chronic noncommunicable diseases;
(3) continually to promote international cooperation and interaction with and among all
actors concerned with implementation of the oral-health action plan, including WHO
collaborating centres for oral health and nongovernmental organizations;
(4) to communicate to UNICEF and other organizations of the United Nations system that
undertake health-related activities the importance of integrating oral health into their
programmes;
(5) to strengthen WHO’s technical leadership in oral health, including increasing, as
appropriate, budgetary and human resources at all levels.
(Eleventh plenary meeting, 23 May 2007 –
Committee A, third report)
76 SIXTIETH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY
WHA60.18 Malaria, including proposal for establishment of World Malaria Day
The Sixtieth World Health Assembly,
Having considered the report on malaria, including a proposal for the establishment of Malaria
Day;
1
Concerned that malaria continues to cause more than one million preventable deaths a year;
Noting that the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the World Bank Global
Strategy and Booster Program, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Malaria Initiative of the
President of the United States of America, and other donors have made substantial resources available;
Welcoming the contribution to the mobilization of resources for development of voluntary
innovative financing initiatives taken by groups of Member States and, in this regard, noting the
activities of the International Drug Purchase Facility (UNITAID);
Recalling that combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases is included in internationally
agreed health-related development goals, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration;
Mindful that the global burden of malaria needs to be decreased in order to reach the
Millennium Development Goal of reducing the mortality rate among children under five by two thirds
by 2015 and to help to achieve the Millennium Development Goals of improving maternal health and
eradicating extreme poverty,
1. URGES Member States:
(1) to apply to their specific contexts the evidence-based policies, strategies and tools
recommended by WHO and performance-based monitoring and evaluation in order to expand
coverage with major preventive interventions in populations at risk and curative interventions
for patients suffering from malaria and to assess programme performance and the coverage and
impact of interventions in an effective and timely manner, particularly with use of the WHO
country-profile database;
(2) to assign national and international resources, both human and financial, for the provision
of technical support in order to ensure that the most locally and epidemiologically appropriate
strategies are effectively implemented and that target populations are reached;
(3) to cease progressively the provision in both the public and private sectors of oral
artemisinin monotherapies, to promote the use of artemisinin-combination therapies, and to
implement policies that prohibit the production, marketing, distribution and use of counterfeit
antimalarial medicines;
(4) to intensify access to affordable, safe and effective antimalarial combination treatments,
to intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancies, with special precautions for HIV-infected
pregnant women who are receiving co-trimoxazole chemotherapy, to insecticide-treated
mosquito nets, including through the free distribution of such nets where appropriate, and to
indoor residual spraying for malaria control with suitable and safe insecticides, taking into
account relevant international rules, standards and guidelines;
1
Document A60/12.
RESOLUTIONS AND DECISIONS 77
(5) to provide, whenever necessary, in their legislation for use, to the full, of the flexibilities
contained in the agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) in
order to promote access to pharmaceutical products;
1
(6) to use all necessary administrative and legislative means, including, where appropriate,
the use of provisions in international agreements, including TRIPS, in order to promote access
to preventive technologies against malaria;
(7) to aim at reducing or interrupting malaria transmission, wherever feasible, through
integrated vector management, promoting improvement of local and environmental conditions
and healthy settings, and increasing access to basic health services, antimalarial medicines,
diagnostics and preventive technologies in order to reduce the disease burden;
(8) to implement integrated approaches to malaria prevention and control through
multisectoral collaboration and community responsibility and participation;
2. REQUESTS international organizations and financing bodies:
(1) to provide support for the development of capacities in developing countries in order to
expand use of reliable diagnostics, artemisinin-based combination therapies that are appropriate
for local drug-resistance conditions, integrated vector management including long-lasting
insecticide-treated nets and larvicidal measures, indoor residual spraying with appropriate and
safe insecticides as indicated by WHO and in accordance with the Stockholm Convention on
Persistent Organic Pollutants,
2
and monitoring and evaluation systems, including use of the
country database developed by WHO;
(2) to increase funding for malaria control, so that the relevant agencies can continue
providing support to countries, and to channel additional resources into technical support so that
the financial resources can be absorbed and used effectively in countries;
(3) to provide support for elimination of malaria in areas where it is feasible and sustainable;
(4) to adjust their policies so as progressively to cease to fund the provision and distribution
of oral artemisinin monotherapies, and to join in campaigns to prohibit the production,
marketing, distribution and use of counterfeit antimalarial medicines;
3. REQUESTS the Director-General:
(1) to take steps to identify gaps in knowledge about malaria control and elimination; to
provide support for the development of new tools for diagnosis, therapy, prevention and control,
and of strategies; to estimate more accurately the global burden of disease and determine trends;
to develop new tools and methods for assessing impact and cost-effectiveness of interventions;
to build up WHO’s current research on malaria, including that of the UNICEF/UNDP/World
1
The WTO General Council in its Decision of 30 August 2003 (i.e. on Implementation of paragraph 6 of the Doha
Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health decided that “ ‘pharmaceutical product’ means any patented product,
or product manufactured through a patented process, of the pharmaceutical sector needed to address the public health
problems as recognized in paragraph 1 of the Declaration. It is understood that active ingredients necessary for its
manufacture and diagnostic kits needed for its use would be included.”
2
The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (Annex B, Part II, paragraphs 1–5) allows for
temporary use of DDT for the purpose of malaria-vector control while maintaining the goal of reducing and ultimately
eliminating the use of DDT, and calls for the development of alternatives.
78 SIXTIETH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY
Bank/WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases; to provide
technical support to countries for conducting operational and implementation research; and to
mobilize resources and increase support for research in the development of new tools and
strategies for prevention and control of malaria;
(2) to strengthen and rationalize human resources for malaria by deploying staff to country
level, thus improving the capacity of WHO’s country offices to provide technical guidance to
national health programmes;
(3) to provide support to coordinating partners and countries for malaria control in refugee
camps and in complex emergencies;
(4) to improve the coordination between different stakeholders in the fight against malaria;
(5) to support the sound management of DDT use for vector control in accordance with the
Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants,
1
and to share data on such use with
Member States;
(6) to report to the Health Assembly biennially through the Executive Board on progress
made in implementation of this resolution;
4. RESOLVES that:
(1) World Malaria Day shall be commemorated annually on 25 April, or on such other day or
days as individual Member States may decide, in order to provide education and understanding
of malaria as a global scourge that is preventable and a disease that is curable;
(2) World Malaria Day shall be the culmination of year-long intensified implementation of
national malaria-control strategies, including community-based activities for malaria prevention
and treatment in endemic areas, and the occasion to inform the general public of the obstacles
encountered and progress achieved in controlling malaria.
(Eleventh plenary meeting, 23 May 2007 –
Committee A, fourth report)
WHA60.19 Tuberculosis control: progress and long-term planning
The Sixtieth World Health Assembly,
Having considered the report on tuberculosis control: progress and long-term planning;
1
Noting the progress made since 1991 towards achieving the international targets for 2005, and
more recently following the establishment, in response to resolution WHA51.13, of the Stop TB
Partnership;
Aware of the need to build on this progress and overcome constraints in order to reach the
international targets for tuberculosis control for 2015 set by the Stop TB Partnership – in line with the
1
Document A60/13.
RESOLUTIONS AND DECISIONS 79
internationally agreed development goal relevant to tuberculosis contained in the United Nations
Millennium Declaration to “have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of major diseases” – of
halving tuberculosis prevalence and death rates by 2015 compared with 1990 levels;
Noting the development of the Stop TB strategy as a comprehensive approach to tuberculosis
prevention and control that incorporates the internationally agreed tuberculosis control strategy
(DOTS strategy) and represents a significant expansion in the scale and scope of tuberculosis-control
activities;
Welcoming the Partnership’s Global Plan to Stop TB 2006–2015, which sets out the activities
oriented towards implementing the Stop TB strategy and achieving the international targets for
tuberculosis control for 2015;
Aware of the need to increase the scope, scale and speed of research needed to achieve the
international targets for tuberculosis control for 2015 and the goal of eliminating tuberculosis as a
global public-health problem by 2050;
Concerned that delays in implementing the Global Plan will result in increasing numbers of
tuberculosis cases and deaths, including those due to multidrug-resistant (and extensively drug-
resistant) tuberculosis and to the impact of HIV, and therefore in delays in achieving by 2015 the
international targets for tuberculosis control and the internationally agreed development goal relevant
to tuberculosis contained in the United Nations Millennium Declaration;
Recognizing the importance of the situation and the trends of multidrug-resistant and
extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis as barriers to the achievement of the Global Plan’s objectives
by 2015, and the need for an increased number of Member States participating in the network of the
Global Project on Anti-Tuberculosis Drug Resistance Surveillance and for the required additional
resources to accomplish its task;
Recalling that resolution WHA58.14 encouraged Member States to fulfil their commitments to
ensure the availability of sufficient domestic resources and of sufficient external resources to achieve
the internationally agreed development goal relevant to tuberculosis contained in the United Nations
Millennium Declaration;
Welcoming the contribution to the mobilization of resources for development by voluntary
innovative financing initiatives taken by groups of Member States and, in this regard, noting the
International Drug Purchase Facility (UNITAID), the International Finance Facility for Immunisation
and the commitment to launch a pilot project within the advance market commitments initiatives,
1. URGES all Member States:
(1) to develop and implement long-term plans for tuberculosis prevention and control in line
with the Global Plan to Stop TB 2006–2015, in the context of overall health development plans,
in collaboration with other programmes (including those on HIV/AIDS, child health and
strengthening of health systems), and through national Stop TB partnerships where appropriate,
with the aim of:
(a) accelerating progress towards the international targets for tuberculosis control for
2015 through full and rapid implementation of the Stop TB strategy, with specific
attention to vulnerable groups highly at risk, such as poor people, migrants and ethnic
minorities;
80 SIXTIETH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY
(b) accelerating improvement of health-information systems, both in general and for
tuberculosis in particular, in order to serve the assessment of national programme
performance;
(c) ensuring high-quality implementation of the DOTS strategy by tuberculosis
programmes as the first and foremost step in full implementation of the Stop TB strategy;
(d) controlling the emergence and transmission of multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis,
including extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis, by ensuring the high-quality
implementation of the DOTS strategy and by prompt implementation of infection-control
precautions;
(e) if affected, immediately addressing extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis and
HIV-related tuberculosis as part of the overall Stop TB strategy, as the highest health
priorities;
(f) enhancing laboratory capacity in order to provide for rapid drug-susceptibility
testing of isolates obtained from all persons with culture-positive tuberculosis, where
resources are available, and promote access to quality-assured sputum smear microscopy;
(g) increasing access to quality-assured second-line medicines at affordable prices
through the Stop TB Partnership’s Green Light Committee;
(h) accelerating collaborative interventions against HIV infection and tuberculosis;
(i) fully involving the private sector in national tuberculosis control programmes;
(2) to use all possible financing mechanisms in order to fulfil the commitments made in
resolution WHA58.14, including that to ensure sustainable domestic and external financing,
thereby filling the funding gaps identified in the Global Plan to Stop TB 2006
–
2015;
(3) to declare, where appropriate, tuberculosis as an emergency and to allocate additional
resources in order to strengthen activities aimed at stopping the spread of extensively drug-
resistant tuberculosis;
2. REQUESTS the Director-General:
(1) to intensify support provided to Member States in expanding implementation of the
Stop TB strategy by developing capacity and improving the performance of national
tuberculosis-control programmes, particularly the quality of DOTS activities, and by
implementing infection-control precautions within the broad context of strengthening health
systems in order to achieve the international targets for 2015;
(2) to continue to provide support for the network of the Global Project on Anti-Tuberculosis
Drug Resistance Surveillance by increasing the number of Member States in the network in
order to inform the Global Plan to Stop TB 2006–2015 through determination of the extent and
trend of multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis;
(3) to strengthen urgently WHO’s support to countries affected by multidrug-resistant
tuberculosis and especially extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis, and to countries highly
affected by HIV-related tuberculosis;
RESOLUTIONS AND DECISIONS 81
(4) to enhance WHO’s leadership within the Stop TB Partnership in its coordination of
efforts to implement the Global Plan to Stop TB 2006–2015 and to facilitate long-term
commitment to sustainable financing of the Global Plan through improved mechanisms for
increased funding;
(5) to strengthen mechanisms to review and monitor estimates of impact of control activities
on the tuberculosis burden, including incidence, prevalence and mortality with specific attention
to vulnerable groups highly at risk, such as poor people, migrants and ethnic minorities;
(6) to support Member States in developing laboratory capacity to provide for rapid drug-
susceptibility testing of isolates obtained from all persons with culture-positive tuberculosis, to
develop consensus guidelines for rapid drug-susceptibility test methods and appropriate
measures for laboratory strengthening, and to mobilize funding;
(7) to enhance WHO’s role in tuberculosis research in order to promote the applied research
necessary to reach the international targets for tuberculosis control for 2015 and the basic
research necessary to achieve the goal of eliminating tuberculosis by 2050; and to increase
global support for those areas of tuberculosis research that are currently underresourced,
especially enhancing research and development of new diagnostics, drugs and vaccines and the
relevance of nutrition to, and its interaction with, tuberculosis;
(8) to report to the Sixty-third World Health Assembly through the Executive Board on:
(a) progress in implementation of the Global Plan to Stop TB 2006–2015, including
mobilization of resources from domestic and external sources for its implementation;
(b) progress made in achieving the international targets for tuberculosis control by
2015, using the “proportion of tuberculosis cases detected and cured under directly
observed treatment, short course (DOTS)” (Millennium Development Goal indicator 24)
as a measure of the performance of national programmes, and tuberculosis incidence and
“prevalence and death rates associated with tuberculosis” (Millennium Development Goal
indicator 23) as a measure of the impact of control on the tuberculosis epidemic.
(Eleventh plenary meeting, 23 May 2007 –
Committee A, fourth report)
WHA60.20 Better medicines for children
The Sixtieth World Health Assembly,
Having considered the report on better medicines for children;
1
Recalling resolutions WHA39.27, WHA41.16 and WHA47.13 on the rational use of drugs,
WHA41.17 on ethical criteria for medicinal drug promotion, WHA43.20 and WHA45.27 on the
WHO Action Programme on Essential Drugs, WHA47.12 on the role of the pharmacist in support of
the WHO revised drug strategy, WHA49.14 and WHA52.19 on the revised drug strategy, WHA54.11
1
Document A60/25.
82 SIXTIETH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY
on the WHO medicines strategy, and WHA58.27 on improving the containment of antimicrobial
resistance;
Recognizing the efforts of WHO in collaboration with governments, other organizations of the
United Nations system, universities, the private sector, nongovernmental organizations and funding
agencies in areas related to improving access to better medicines for children;
Aware of the core components of WHO’s global framework for expanding access to essential
medicines;
Wishing to promote evidence-based selection and use of medicines for children by health
providers and carers;
Aware that there are regional initiatives to address inadequate access to essential medicines for
children;
Wishing to ensure better access to essential medicines for children as a prerequisite for
achieving health outcomes as set out in the internationally agreed health-related development goals,
including those contained in the Millennium Declaration;
Aware that the lack of access to essential medicines of assured quality continues to pose
significant risks of high morbidity and mortality in children, especially those under five years of age;
Recognizing the ongoing work of the Intergovernmental Working Group on Public Health,
Innovation and Intellectual Property and the need to ensure harmonization of WHO’s work on access
to essential medicines;
Concerned that children can be further disadvantaged by lack of physical and economic access
to essential medicines, especially in vulnerable communities;
Recognizing that many countries do not have the requisite capacity to regulate and control
medicines for children;
Aware that many manufacturers of essential medicines have neither developed nor produced
appropriate dosage forms and strengths of medicines for children;
Concerned that there is insufficient investment in the clinical trials, development and
manufacture of medicines for children;
1. URGES Member States:
(1) to take steps to identify appropriate dosage forms and strengths of medicines for children,
and to encourage their manufacture and licensing;
(2) to investigate whether currently available medicines could be formulated to make them
suitable for use in children;
(3) to conduct surveillance of antimicrobial resistance of locally available and commonly
prescribed medicines for children;
RESOLUTIONS AND DECISIONS 83
(4) to encourage research and development of appropriate medicines for diseases that affect
children, and to ensure that high-quality clinical trials for these medicines are conducted in an
ethical manner;
(5) to facilitate timely licensing of appropriate, high-quality and affordable medicines for
children and innovative methods for monitoring the safety of such medicines, and to encourage
the marketing of adequate paediatric formulations together with newly developed medicines;
(6) to promote access to essential medicines for children through inclusion, as appropriate, of
those medicines in national medicine lists, and procurement and reimbursement schemes, and to
devise measures to monitor prices;
(7) to collaborate in order to facilitate innovative research and development on, formulation
of, regulatory approval of, provision of adequate prompt information on, and rational use of,
paediatric medicines and medicines authorized for adults but not approved for use in children;
(8) to use all necessary administrative and legislative means including, where appropriate, the
provisions contained in international agreements, including the agreement on Trade-Related
Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, in order to promote access to essential medicines for
children;
2. REQUESTS the Director-General:
(1) to promote the development, harmonization and use of standards for clinical trials of
medicines for children; to revise and regularly update the Model List of Essential Medicines in
order to include missing essential medicines for children, using evidence-based clinical
guidelines; and to promote application of such guidelines by Member States and international
financing bodies, with initial focus on treatments for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and
chronic diseases;
(2) to ensure that all relevant WHO programmes, including but not limited to that on
essential medicines, contribute to making safe and effective medicines as widely available for
children as for adults;
(3) to promote the development of international norms and standards for quality and safety of
formulations for children, and of the regulatory capacity to apply them;
(4) to make available evidence-based treatment guidelines and independent information on
dosage and safety aspects of essential medicines for children, progressively to cover all
medicines for children, and to work with Member States in order to implement such guidelines;
(5) to collaborate with governments, other organizations of the United Nations system,
including WTO and WIPO, donor agencies, nongovernmental organizations and the
pharmaceutical industry in order to encourage fair trade in safe and effective medicines for
children and adequate financing for securing better access to medicines for children;
(6) to report to the Sixty-second World Health Assembly, and subsequently as appropriate,
through the Executive Board, on progress achieved, problems encountered and specific actions
needed to further promote better access to medicines for children.
(Eleventh plenary meeting, 23 May 2007 –
Committee B, third report)
84 SIXTIETH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY
WHA60.21 Sustaining the elimination of iodine deficiency disorders
The Sixtieth World Health Assembly,
Having noted with appreciation the report on sustaining the elimination of iodine deficiency
disorders;
1
Noting that, although progress has been made by some Member States in the sustained
elimination of iodine deficiency disorders in the past two years, between one fourth and one third of
the world’s population still suffers from this micronutrient deficiency, most of them in impoverished
areas of the world;
Concerned that iodine deficiency can prevent the optimal development of children’s brains, with
possible consequent learning impairment and subsequent social and economic consequences;
Recognizing that the fight against iodine deficiency contributes directly to many of the
internationally agreed health-related goals, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration,
such as eradicating extreme poverty, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, achieving
universal primary education, and promoting gender equality;
Applauding the support of international organizations, especially WHO, UNICEF, WFP,
bilateral development agencies and nongovernmental and private partners, including Kiwanis
International, the International Council for the Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders and the global
Network for Sustained Elimination of Iodine Deficiency,
1. URGES Member States:
(1) to redouble their efforts to reach those people not yet protected from iodine deficiency
disorders, and to sustain successful programmes on a continuous basis;
(2) to implement the recommendation in resolution WHA58.24 to establish multidisciplinary
national coalitions in order to monitor the state of iodine nutrition every three years;
2. REQUESTS the Director-General to continue to strengthen WHO’s cooperation with other
organizations in the United Nations system for supporting Member States in fighting iodine
deficiency, and to report on iodine status every three years in compliance with resolution WHA58.24.
(Eleventh plenary meeting, 23 May 2007 –
Committee B, third report)
WHA60.22 Health systems: emergency-care systems
The Sixtieth World Health Assembly,
Having considered the report on health systems: emergency-care systems;
2
1
Document A60/28, Section G.
2
Document A60/21.
RESOLUTIONS AND DECISIONS 85
Recalling resolutions WHA56.24 on implementing the recommendations of the World report on
violence and health and WHA57.10 on road safety and health, which respectively noted that violence
was a leading worldwide public-health problem and that road-traffic injuries caused extensive and
serious public-health problems;
Further recalling that resolution WHA56.24 requested the Director-General to provide technical
support for strengthening trauma and care services to survivors or victims of violence, and that
resolution WHA57.10 recommended Member States to strengthen emergency and rehabilitation
services, and requested the Director-General to provide technical support for strengthening systems of
prehospital and trauma care for victims of road-traffic injuries;
Recognizing that each year worldwide more than 100 million people sustain injuries, that more
than five million people die from violence and injury, and that 90% of the global burden of violence
and injury mortality occurs in low- and middle-income countries;
Aware of the need for primary prevention as one of the most important ways to reduce the
burden of injuries;
Recognizing that improved organization and planning for provision of trauma and emergency
care is an essential part of integrated health-care delivery, plays an important role in preparedness for,
and response to, mass-casualty incidents, and can lower mortality, reduce disability and prevent other
adverse health outcomes arising from the burden of everyday injuries;
Considering that WHO’s published guidance and electronic tools offer a means to improve the
organization and planning of trauma and emergency care that is particularly adapted to meeting the
needs of low- and middle-income countries,
1. CONSIDERS that additional efforts should be made globally to strengthen provision of trauma
and emergency care so as to ensure timely and effective delivery to those who need it in the context of
the overall health-care system, and related health and health-promotion initiatives;
2. URGES Member States:
(1) to assess comprehensively the prehospital and emergency-care context including, where
necessary, identifying unmet needs;
(2) to ensure involvement of ministries of health in, and an intersectoral coordination
mechanism for, review and strengthening of the provision of trauma and emergency care;
(3) to consider establishing formal and integrated emergency-care systems and to draw on
informal systems and community resources in order to establish integrated-care capacity in
areas where formal, prehospital, emergency medical-care systems are impractical;
(4) in settings with a formal, emergency medical-care system, and where appropriate and
feasible, to ensure that a monitoring mechanism exists to provide improved pertinent
information and assure minimum standards for training, equipment, infrastructure and
communication;
(5) in locations with a formal, emergency medical-care system, or where one is being
developed, to establish, and make widely known, a universal-access telephone number;
86 SIXTIETH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY
(6) to identify a core set of trauma and emergency-care services, and to develop methods for
assuring and documenting that such services are provided appropriately to all who need them;
(7) to consider creating incentives for training and to improve working conditions for health-
care providers concerned;
(8) to ensure that appropriate core competencies are part of relevant health curricula and to
promote continuing education for providers of trauma and emergency care;
(9) to ensure that data sources are sufficient to monitor objectively the outcome of efforts to
strengthen trauma and emergency-care systems;
(10) to review and update relevant legislation, including where necessary financial
mechanisms and management aspects, so as to ensure that a core set of trauma and emergency-
care services are accessible to all people who need them;
3. REQUESTS the Director-General:
(1) to devise standardized tools and techniques for assessing need for prehospital and facility-
based capacity in trauma and emergency care;
(2) to develop techniques for reviewing policy and legislation related to provision of
emergency care, to compile examples of such legislation, and to use such institutional capacity
to provide support to Member States, on request, for reviewing and updating their policies and
legislation;
(3) to determine standards, mechanisms, and techniques for inspection of facilities, and to
provide support to Member States for design of quality-improvement programmes and other
methods needed for competent and timely provision of essential trauma and emergency care;
(4) to provide guidance for the creation and strengthening of mass-casualty management
systems;
(5) to provide support to Member States, upon request, for needs assessments, facility
inspection, quality-improvement programmes, review of legislation, and other aspects of
strengthening provision of trauma and emergency care;
(6) to encourage research and to collaborate with Member States in establishing science-
based policies and programmes for implementation of methods to strengthen trauma and
emergency care;
(7) to collaborate with Member States, nongovernmental organizations and other
stakeholders in order to help ensure that the necessary capacity is in place effectively to plan,
organize, administer, finance and monitor provision of trauma and emergency care;
(8) to raise awareness of the existence of low-cost ways to reduce mortality through
improved organization and planning of provision of trauma and emergency care, and to organize
regular expert meetings to further technical exchange and build capacity in this area;
(9) to work with Member States to design strategies for providing, on a regular basis,
optimal, non-emergency and emergency care to all those in need; and to provide support to
RESOLUTIONS AND DECISIONS 87
Member States for mobilizing adequate resources, as appropriate, from donors and development
partners to achieve this goal;
(10) to report on progress made in implementing this resolution to the Health Assembly,
through the Executive Board.
(Eleventh plenary meeting, 23 May 2007 –
Committee A, fifth report)
WHA60.23 Prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases: implementation
of the global strategy
The Sixtieth World Health Assembly,
Having considered the report on prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases:
implementation of the global strategy;
1
Recalling resolutions WHA53.17 on prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases,
WHA54.18 on transparency in tobacco control process, WHA56.1 on the WHO Framework
Convention on Tobacco Control, WHA57.17 on the Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and
Health, WHA57.16 on health promotion and healthy lifestyles, WHA58.22 on cancer prevention
and control, and WHA58.26 on public-health problems caused by harmful use of alcohol, and the
many related regional committee resolutions, including on mental health;
Deeply concerned that in 2005 noncommunicable diseases caused an estimated 35 million
deaths (60% of all deaths globally), that 80% of these deaths occurred in low- and middle-income
countries, and that about 16 million deaths occurred among people under 70 years of age;
Noting that mortality due to noncommunicable diseases is expected to rise by a further 17% by
2015, with serious socioeconomic consequences for Member States, communities and families;
Noting the links between noncommunicable diseases, development, the environment, and
human security, and their contribution to health inequalities;
Noting that multisectoral responses continue to be limited by lack of awareness of, and
appropriate action to reverse, the pandemic of noncommunicable diseases;
Noting that the importance of prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases has been
highlighted in the Eleventh General Programme of Work 2006–2015, which includes the target of
reducing death rates from noncommunicable diseases by 2% annually during the next 10 years;
Noting the increasing evidence on the cost-effectiveness of several simple interventions for
prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases;
1
Document A60/15.
88 SIXTIETH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY
Noting the importance of motivating, educating and supporting individuals and families to make
healthy choices in their daily lives, and the important role played by governments in providing healthy
public policy and environments;
Confirming the importance of tackling the major underlying risk factors for noncommunicable
diseases in an integrated, comprehensive, multisectoral and step-by-step manner;
Recognizing the heavy social and economic burden of musculoskeletal disorders, especially
among the workforce and elderly people;
Bearing in mind that the response to the triple burden of infectious diseases, noncommunicable
diseases and injuries faced by many countries, and their severe resource constraints, requires a strong
primary health-care system within an integrated health system;
Recognizing that the implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
is an essential measure for the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases;
Recognizing that greater efforts are required globally to promote physical activity and healthy
lifestyles, and to improve the nutritional quality of food and drink products, the way in which they are
marketed, and the quality of information and its availability to consumers and their families, in
particular children, young people and other population groups in vulnerable circumstances;
Recognizing that more information is required on the socioeconomic and developmental impact
of noncommunicable diseases and on the outcome of available interventions;
Aware that Member States spend only a small proportion of their health-care budget on
prevention of noncommunicable diseases and on public health, and that even a minor increase in that
percentage would yield tremendous health and socioeconomic benefits,
1. URGES Member States:
(1) to strengthen national and local political will to prevent and control noncommunicable
diseases as part of a commitment to achieving the target of reducing death rates from
noncommunicable diseases by 2% annually for the next 10 years, as contained in the Eleventh
General Programme of Work, 2006–2015;
1
(2) to establish and strengthen a national coordinating mechanism and local coalitions for
prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases where appropriate to national
circumstances, with a broad multisectoral mandate that includes mobilization of political will
and financial resources and involves all relevant stakeholders;
(3) to develop and implement a national multisectoral evidence-based action plan for
prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases that sets out priorities, a time frame and
performance indicators, provides the basis for coordinating the work of all stakeholders, and
actively engages civil society, while ensuring avoidance of potential conflict of interest;
(4) to increase, as appropriate, resources for programmes for prevention and control of
noncommunicable diseases;
1
Document A59/25, Appendix 6.
RESOLUTIONS AND DECISIONS 89
(5) to implement and increase support for existing global initiatives and the WHO
Framework Convention on Tobacco Control that contribute to achieving the target of reducing
death rates from noncommunicable diseases by 2% annually for the next 10 years;
(6) to strengthen the capacity of health systems for prevention, to make prevention and
control of noncommunicable diseases an integral part of primary health-care programmes, and
to ensure that health institutions are adequately organized in order to meet the serious challenges
raised by noncommunicable diseases, thereby implicitly focusing on primary health care;
(7) to strengthen monitoring and evaluation systems, including country-level epidemiological
surveillance mechanisms, in order to compile evidence for informing policy decisions;
(8) to emphasize the key role of governmental functions, including regulatory functions,
when combating noncommunicable diseases;
(9) to increase access to appropriate health care, including affordable, high-quality medicines
for high-risk populations in low- and middle-income countries;
(10) to incorporate into their national health programmes strategies for public health
interventions designed to reduce the incidence of obesity in children and adults, together with
measures to prevent and control diabetes mellitus;
2. REQUESTS the Director-General:
(1) on the basis of an outline contained in the report on prevention and control of
noncommunicable diseases: implementation of the global strategy,
1
to prepare an action plan to
be submitted to the Sixty-first World Health Assembly, through the Executive Board, that sets
out priorities, actions, a time frame and performance indicators for prevention and control of
noncommunicable diseases between 2008 and 2013 at global and regional levels, and to provide
support where needed for elaboration, intensified implementation and monitoring of national
plans for prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases, including the further
development of an intervention to manage the conditions of people at high risk of such diseases;
(2) to raise further awareness among Member States of the importance of drawing up,
promoting and funding supportive national multisectoral coordination and surveillance
mechanisms, health promotion programmes and plans for prevention and control of
noncommunicable diseases;
(3) to provide support to Member States, on request, and to foster partnership, collaboration,
cooperation and sharing of best practices among Member States for incorporating
comprehensive noncommunicable disease interventions into national policies and programmes,
including health systems policies and programmes, and for expanding interventions, including
strategies to educate and support individuals and families;
(4) to disseminate to Member States, in a timely and consistent manner, information on cost-
effective, core interventions aimed at preventing and controlling noncommunicable diseases;
(5) to encourage dialogue with international, regional and national nongovernmental
organizations, donors and technical-agency partners and the private sector, while ensuring
1
Document A60/15.
90 SIXTIETH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY
avoidance of potential conflict of interest, in order to increase support, resources and
partnerships for prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases, including health and
wellness programmes at the workplace, as appropriate;
(6) to promote initiatives aimed at implementing the global strategy for prevention and
control of noncommunicable diseases with the purpose of increasing availability of healthy food
and promoting healthy diets and healthy eating habits, and to promote responsible marketing,
including the development of a set of recommendations on marketing of foods and nonalcoholic
beverages to children, in order to reduce the impact of foods high in saturated fats, trans-fatty
acids, free sugars, or salt, in dialogue with all relevant stakeholders, including private-sector
parties, while ensuring avoidance of potential conflict of interest;
(7) to build and sustain contact with the mass media in order to ensure continued prominence
in the media of issues related to the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases;
(8) to improve understanding of the socioeconomic impact of noncommunicable diseases at
national and household levels, especially in low- and middle-income countries;
(9) to ensure that the work on prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases is given
suitably high priority and support where appropriate;
(10) to develop mechanisms for Member States to coordinate activities on the prevention and
control of noncommunicable diseases, in particular to recognize global and regional networking
programmes on the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases as an effective means
of cooperation and of implementing the global strategy, and to provide funding and support for
the organization and coordination of these programmes at global and regional levels;
(11) strongly to promote dialogue between Member States with a view to implementation of
concrete actions to prevent obesity and diabetes mellitus within the framework of resolution
WHA53.17 on prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases and the Global Strategy on
Diet, Physical Activity and Health;
(12) to report to the Sixty-third World Health Assembly, and subsequently every two years to
the Health Assembly, through the Executive Board, on progress in implementing the global
strategy on prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases, including progress on the
action plan.
(Eleventh plenary meeting, 23 May 2007 –
Committee A, fifth report)
WHA60.24 Health promotion in a globalized world
The Sixtieth World Health Assembly,
Recalling resolutions WHA42.44 on health promotion, public information and education for
health, WHA51.12 on health promotion, WHA57.16 on health promotion and healthy lifestyles, and
the outcomes of the six international conferences on health promotion (Ottawa, 1986; Adelaide,
Australia, 1988; Sundsvall, Sweden, 1991; Jakarta, 1997; Mexico City, 2000; Bangkok, 2005);
RESOLUTIONS AND DECISIONS 91
Having considered the report on follow-up to the 6th Global Conference on Health Promotion
(Bangkok in 2005),
1
which confirms the need to focus on health promotion actions to address the
determinants of health;
Drawing on the Declaration of Alma-Ata, the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, and the
Bangkok Charter for Health Promotion in a Globalized World which sets out strategic directions for
equitable health improvement in the first decades of the twenty-first century;
Considering the actions and recommendations set out in the Bangkok Charter for Health
Promotion in a Globalized World to make the promotion of health central to the global development
agenda, a core responsibility for all governments, and a key focus of communities, civil society, and
the private sector;
Noting that health promotion is essential for meeting the targets of the internationally agreed
health-related development goals, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration, is
intimately related to the work of WHO’s Commission on Social Determinants of Health, and makes an
important contribution to realizing the objectives of the Eleventh General Programme of Work;
Recognizing that the dramatic changes of the global burden of disease, notably due to
noncommunicable diseases, require greater attention, and call for adjustments in society at large and in
resource allocation in order to tackle the immediate and underlying determinants of health;
Recognizing that health promotion contributes to the achievement of health for all;
Confirming the importance of addressing also the wider determinants of health, and of
implementing recommendations on, and undertaking action for, health for all,
1. URGES all Member States:
(1) to increase, as appropriate, investments in, and to frame sound policies for, health
promotion as an essential component of equitable social and economic development;
(2) to establish, as appropriate, effective mechanisms for a multisectoral, including
interministerial, approach in order to address effectively the social, economic, political and
environmental determinants of health throughout the life-course;
(3) to support and foster the active engagement in health promotion of communities, civil
society, especially people or groups making positive contributions, the public including
professional and labour unions, businesses and associations, and other bodies, especially those
involved in public health and health promotion, while avoiding any possible conflict of interest
and promoting constructive engagement for mutual benefit;
(4) systematically to monitor, evaluate and improve health-promotion policies, programmes,
infrastructure and investment, on a regular basis, including consideration of the use of health-
impact assessments, to report results in solving problems related to health promotion, and to
publicize and use those results in the planning process;
(5) to reorient national public-health systems towards the promotion and adoption of
healthier lifestyles by individuals, families and communities;
1
Document A60/18.
92 SIXTIETH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY
(6) to introduce into current practices effective, evidence-based health promotion
interventions;
(7) that have successfully implemented a national public health policy, within which health
promotion is the key to modifying the determinants of health, effectively to transfer their
expertise to those countries that are still in the implementation phase;
2. REQUESTS the Director-General:
(1) to strengthen the capacity for health promotion across the Organization in order to
provide better support to Member States by advancing knowledge and the active engagement of
other appropriate organizations of the United Nations system and international organizations;
(2) to provide support to Member States in their continuous efforts to strengthen national
health systems, with a special focus on the primary health sector, in order to enhance the ability
to tackle serious threats to health;
(3) to optimize use of existing forums of Member States for multisectoral, including
interministerial, stakeholders, interested organizations and other bodies, while avoiding any
possible conflict of interest, in order to support the development and implementation of health
promotion;
(4) to encourage the convening of national, subregional, regional and global multisectoral
conferences on health promotion on a regular basis;
(5) to monitor and evaluate progress, to identify major shortcomings in health promotion
globally, to report on a regular basis, and to make the reports accessible to the public;
(6) to facilitate exchange of information with international nonhealth forums on key aspects
of health promotion;
(7) to advocate policies that impact positively on health;
(8) to report to the Sixty-first World Health Assembly, through the Executive Board, on
progress in implementing this resolution.
(Eleventh plenary meeting, 23 May 2007 –
Committee A, fifth report)
WHA60.25 Strategy for integrating gender analysis and actions into the work of
WHO
The Sixtieth World Health Assembly,
Having considered the draft strategy for integrating gender analysis and actions into the work of
WHO;
1
1
See Annex 2.
RESOLUTIONS AND DECISIONS 93
Recalling the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and
Development (Cairo, 1994), the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (Beijing, 1995), the
recommendations of Beijing plus 10 Conference (2005) and their reports, the Economic and Social
Council’s agreed conclusions 1997/2, the United Nations Millennium Declaration 2000, the 2005
World Summit Outcome
1
and resolution WHA58.30 on accelerating achievement of the
internationally agreed health-related development goals, including those contained in the Millennium
Declaration,
1. NOTES WITH APPRECIATION the strategy for integrating gender analysis and actions into
the work of WHO;
2. URGES Member States:
(1) to include gender analysis and planning in joint strategic and operational planning, and
budget planning as appropriate, including country cooperation strategies;
(2) to formulate national strategies for addressing gender issues in health policies,
programmes and research, including in the area of reproductive and sexual health;
(3) to lay emphasis on training and sensitization on, and promotion of, gender, women and
health;
(4) to ensure that a gender-equality perspective is incorporated in all levels of health-care
delivery and services, including those for adolescents and youth;
(5) to collect and analyse sex-disaggregated data, conduct research on the factors underlying
gender disparities, and use the results to inform policies and programmes;
(6) to make progress towards gender equality in the health sector, in order to ensure that the
contribution of women, men, girls and boys as providers of health care is considered in health
policy and planning and training for health-care workers;
3. REQUESTS the Director-General:
(1) to assess and address gender differences and inequalities in the planning, implementation,
monitoring and evaluation of WHO’s work, and to include this requirement in post descriptions
and criterion in performance evaluation;
(2) to define indicators and to monitor, and assure accountability for, implementation of the
strategy by the Secretariat at headquarters and in regional and country offices;
(3) to support and sustain incorporation of a gender perspective in the mainstream of WHO’s
policies and programmes, including through recruiting staff as soon as possible with specific
responsibility and experience on gender and women’s health;
(4) to provide support to Member States in order to build their capacity for gender analysis
and action, and for formulating and sustaining strategies, action plans, and relevant budgets for
integrating gender equality in all health policies, programmes, and research;
1
United Nations General Assembly resolution 60/1.
94 SIXTIETH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY
(5) to give priority to the use of sex-disaggregated data and gender analysis in WHO’s
publications, including relevant documents submitted to the Executive Board and the Health
Assembly, and in efforts to strengthen health-information systems in order to ensure that they
reflect awareness of gender equality as a determinant of health;
(6) to ensure that programmatic and thematic evaluations indicate the extent to which gender
issues have been incorporated in the Organization’s work;
(7) to identify, and divulgate information about, good practices on measuring the impact of
integrating gender into health policies, including the development of indicators and health-
information systems that disaggregate data by sex;
(8) to ensure full implementation of the strategy, and to report every two years on progress to
the Health Assembly, through the Executive Board.
(Eleventh plenary meeting, 23 May 2007 –
Committee A, fifth report)
WHA60.26 Workers’ health: global plan of action
The Sixtieth World Health Assembly,
Having considered the draft global plan of action on workers’ health;
1
Recalling resolution WHA49.12 which endorsed the global strategy for occupational health
for all;
Recalling and recognizing the recommendations of the World Summit on Sustainable
Development (Johannesburg, South Africa, 2002) on strengthening WHO action on occupational
health and linking it to public health;
2
Recalling the Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 2006,
and the other international instruments in the area of occupational safety and health adopted by the
General Conference of ILO;
3
Considering that the health of workers is determined not only by occupational hazards, but also
by social and individual factors, and access to health services;
Mindful that interventions exist for primary prevention of occupational hazards and for
developing healthy workplaces;
Concerned that there are major gaps between and within countries in the exposure of workers
and local communities to occupational hazards and in their access to occupational health services;
1
See Annex to this resolution.
2
Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development. Document A/Conf.199/20, Annex.
3
International Labour Conference, Ninety-fifth Session, Geneva 2006. Provisional Record 20A.
RESOLUTIONS AND DECISIONS 95
Stressing that the health of workers is an essential prerequisite for productivity and economic
development,
1. ENDORSES the global plan of action on workers’ health 2008–2017;
2. URGES Member States:
(1) to devise, in collaboration with workers, employers and their organizations, national
policies and plans for implementation of the global plan of action on workers’ health as
appropriate, and to establish appropriate mechanisms and legal frameworks for their
implementation, monitoring and evaluation;
(2) to work towards full coverage of all workers, including those in the informal economy,
small- and medium-sized enterprises, agriculture, and migrant and contractual workers, with
essential interventions and basic occupational health services for primary prevention of
occupational and work-related diseases and injuries;
(3) to take measures to establish and strengthen core institutional capacities and human
resource capabilities for dealing with the special health needs of working populations and to
generate evidence on workers’ health and translate that evidence into policy and actions;
(4) to develop and make available specific guidelines for the establishment of appropriate
health services and surveillance mechanisms for human and environmental hazards and diseases
introduced into local communities where mining, other industrial and agricultural activities have
been set up to meet the associated needs of those communities;
(5) to ensure collaboration and concerted action by all national health programmes relevant
to workers’ health, such as those dealing with prevention of occupational diseases and injuries,
communicable and chronic diseases, health promotion, mental health, environmental health, and
health systems development;
(6) to encourage incorporation of workers’ health in national and sectoral policies for
sustainable development, poverty reduction, employment, trade, environmental protection, and
education;
(7) to encourage the development of effective mechanisms for collaboration and cooperation
between developed and developing countries at regional, subregional and country levels in
implementing the global plan of action on workers’ health, including health needs of migrant
workers;
(8) to encourage development of comprehensive health and nonhealth strategies to ensure
reintegration of sick and injured workers into the mainstream of society, in coordination with
different government and nongovernmental organizations;
3. REQUESTS the Director-General:
(1) to promote implementation of the global plan of action on workers’ health 2008–2017 at
national and international levels with a definite timeline and indicators for the establishment of
occupational health services at global level;
(2) to strengthen collaboration with ILO and other related international organizations and to
stimulate joint regional and country efforts on workers’ health;
96 SIXTIETH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY
(3) to maintain and strengthen the network of WHO collaborating centres for occupational
health as an important mechanism for implementation of the global plan of action;
(4) to report to the Health Assembly through the Executive Board at its 132nd (2013) and its
142nd (2018) sessions on progress made in the implementation of the global plan of action.
ANNEX
GLOBAL PLAN OF ACTION ON WORKERS’ HEALTH 2008–2017
INTRODUCTION
1. Workers represent half the world’s population and are the major contributors to economic and
social development. Their health is determined not only by workplace hazards but also by social and
individual factors and access to health services.
2. Despite the availability of effective interventions to prevent occupational hazards and to protect
and promote health at the workplace, large gaps exist between and within countries with regard to the
health status of workers and their exposure to occupational risks. Still only a small minority of the
global workforce has access to occupational health services.
3. Increasing international movement of jobs, products and technologies can help to spread
innovative solutions for prevention of occupational hazards, but can also lead to a shift of that risk to
less advantaged groups. The growing informal economy is often associated with hazardous working
conditions and involves such vulnerable groups as children, pregnant women, older persons and
migrant workers.
4. The present plan of action deals with all aspects of workers’ health, including primary
prevention of occupational hazards, protection and promotion of health at work, employment
conditions, and a better response from health systems to workers’ health. It is underpinned by certain
common principles. All workers should be able to enjoy the highest attainable standard of physical and
mental health and favourable working conditions. The workplace should not be detrimental to health
and well-being. Primary prevention of occupational health hazards should be given priority. All
components of health systems should be involved in an integrated response to the specific health needs
of working populations. The workplace can also serve as a setting for delivery of other essential
public-health interventions, and for health promotion. Activities related to workers’ health should be
planned, implemented and evaluated with a view to reducing inequalities in workers’ health within
and between countries. Workers and employers and their representatives should also participate in
such activities.
ACTIONS
5. The following actions are to be considered and adapted by countries, as appropriate, to their
national priorities and specific circumstances in order to achieve the objectives described below.
RESOLUTIONS AND DECISIONS 97
Objective 1: to devise and implement policy instruments on workers’ health
6. National policy frameworks for workers’ health should be formulated taking account of the
relevant international labour conventions and should include: enactment of legislation; establishment
of mechanisms for intersectoral coordination of activities; funding and resource mobilization for
protection and promotion of workers’ health; strengthening of the role and capacities of ministries of
health; and integration of objectives and actions for workers’ health into national health strategies.
7. National action plans on workers’ health should be elaborated between relevant ministries, such
as health and labour, and other major national stakeholders, taking also into consideration the
Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 2006. Such plans should
include: national profiles; priorities for action; objectives and targets; actions; mechanisms for
implementation; human and financial resources; monitoring, evaluation and updating; reporting and
accountability.
8. National approaches to prevention of occupational diseases and injuries should be developed
according to countries’ priorities, and in concert with WHO’s global campaigns.
9. Measures need to be taken to minimize the gaps between different groups of workers in terms of
levels of risk and health status. Particular attention should be paid to high-risk sectors of economic
activity, and to the underserved and vulnerable working populations, such as younger and older
workers, persons with disabilities and migrant workers, taking account of gender aspects. Specific
programmes should be established for the occupational health and safety of health-care workers.
10. WHO will work with Member States to strengthen the capacities of the ministries of health to
provide leadership for activities related to workers’ health, to formulate and implement policies and
action plans, and to stimulate intersectoral collaboration. Its activities will include global campaigns
for elimination of asbestos-related diseases – bearing in mind a differentiated approach to regulating
its various forms – in line with relevant international legal instruments and the latest evidence for
effective interventions, as well as immunization of health-care workers against hepatitis B, and other
actions addressing priority work-related health outcomes.
Objective 2: to protect and promote health at the workplace
11. The assessment and management of health risks at the workplace should be improved by:
defining essential interventions for prevention and control of mechanical, physical, chemical,
biological and psychosocial risks in the working environment. Such measures include also integrated
management of chemicals at the workplace, elimination of second-hand tobacco smoke from all
indoor workplaces, improved occupational safety, and health-impact assessment of new technologies,
work processes and products at the design stage.
12. Protecting health at the workplace also requires enacting regulations and adopting a basic set of
occupational health standards to make certain that all workplaces comply with minimum requirements
for health and safety protection, ensuring an appropriate level of enforcement, strengthening
workplace health inspection, and building up collaboration between the competent regulatory agencies
according to specific national circumstances.
13. Capacities should be built for primary prevention of occupational hazards, diseases and injuries,
including strengthening of human, methodological and technological resources, training of workers
and employers, introduction of healthy work practices and work organization, and of a health-
promoting culture at the workplace. Mechanisms need to be established to stimulate the development
of healthy workplaces, including consultation with, and participation of, workers and employers.
98 SIXTIETH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY
14. Health promotion and prevention of noncommunicable diseases should be further stimulated in
the workplace, in particular by advocating healthy diet and physical activity among workers, and
promoting mental and family health at work. Global health threats, such as tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS,
malaria and avian influenza, can also be prevented and controlled at the workplace.
15. WHO will work on creating practical tools for assessment and management of occupational
risks, recommending minimum requirements for health protection at the workplace, providing
guidance on development of healthy workplaces, and on promoting health at the workplace. It will
also incorporate workplace actions in international programmes dealing with global health threats.
Objective 3: to improve the performance of and access to occupational health services
16. Coverage and quality of occupational health services should be improved by: integrating their
development into national health strategies, health-sector reforms and plans for improving health-
systems performance; determining standards for organization and coverage of occupational health
services; setting targets for increasing the coverage of the working population with occupational health
services; creating mechanisms for pooling resources and for financing the delivery of occupational
health services; ensuring sufficient and competent human resources; and establishing quality-
assurance systems. Basic occupational health services should be provided for all workers, including
those in the informal economy, small enterprises, and agriculture.
17. Core institutional capacities should be built at national and local levels in order to provide
technical support for basic occupational health services, in terms of planning, monitoring and quality
of service delivery, design of new interventions, dissemination of information, and provision of
specialized expertise.
18. Development of human resources for workers’ health should be further strengthened by: further
postgraduate training in relevant disciplines; building capacity for basic occupational health services;
incorporating workers’ health in the training of primary health care practitioners and other
professionals needed for occupational health services; creating incentives for attracting and retaining
human resources for workers’ health, and encouraging the establishment of networks of services and
professional associations. Attention should be given not only to postgraduate but also to basic training
for health professionals in various fields such as promotion of workers’ health and the prevention and
treatment of workers’ health problems. This should be a particular priority in primary health care.
19. WHO will provide guidance to the Member States for the development of basic packages,
information products, tools and working methods, and models of good practice for occupational health
services. It will also stimulate international efforts for building the necessary human and institutional
capacities.
Objective 4: to provide and communicate evidence for action and practice
20. Systems for surveillance of workers’ health should be designed with the objective of accurately
identifying and controlling occupational hazards. This endeavour includes establishing national
information systems, building capability to estimate the occupational burden of diseases and injuries,
creating registries of exposure to major risks, occupational accidents and occupational diseases, and
improving reporting and early detection of such accidents and diseases.
21. Research on workers’ health needs to be further strengthened, in particular by framing special
research agendas, giving it priority in national research programmes and grant schemes, and fostering
practical and participatory research.
RESOLUTIONS AND DECISIONS 99
22. Strategies and tools need to be elaborated, with the involvement of all stakeholders, for
improving communication and raising awareness about workers’ health. They should target workers,
employers and their organizations, policy-makers, the general public, and the media. Knowledge of
health practitioners about the link between health and work and the opportunities to solve health
problems through workplace interventions should be improved.
23. WHO will define indicators and promote regional and global information platforms for
surveillance of workers’ health, will determine international exposure and diagnostic criteria for early
detection of occupational diseases, and will include occupational causes of diseases in the eleventh
revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases, and Related Health Problems.
Objective 5: to incorporate workers’ health into other policies
24. The capacities of the health sector to promote the inclusion of workers’ health in other sectors’
policies should be strengthened. Measures to protect workers’ health should be incorporated in
economic development policies and poverty reduction strategies. The health sector should collaborate
with the private sector in order to avoid international transfer of occupational risks and to protect
health at the workplace. Similar measures should be incorporated in national plans and programmes
for sustainable development.
25. Workers’ health should likewise be considered in the context of trade policies when taking
measures as specified in resolution WHA59.26 on international trade and health.
26. Employment policies also influence health; assessment of the health impact of employment
strategies should therefore be encouraged. Environmental protection should be strengthened in relation
to workers’ health through, for instance, implementation of the risk-reduction measures foreseen in the
Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management, and consideration of workers’ health
aspects of multilateral environmental agreements and mitigation strategies, environmental
management systems and plans for emergency preparedness and response.
27. Workers’ health should be addressed in the sectoral policies for different branches of economic
activity, in particular those with the highest health risk.
28. Aspects of workers’ health should be taken into account in primary, secondary and higher level
education and vocational training.
IMPLEMENTATION
29. Improving the health of workers can be achieved through well-coordinated efforts of society as
a whole, under government leadership and with substantial participation of workers and employers. A
combination of actions, adapted to national specificities and priorities, is needed to meet the above-
mentioned objectives. Actions are designed for implementation at national level, and through
intercountry and interregional cooperation.
30. WHO, supported by its network of Collaborating Centres for Occupational Health and in
partnership with other intergovernmental and international organizations, will work with the Member
States to implement this plan of action by:
• promoting and engaging in partnership and joint action with ILO and other organizations of
the United Nations system, organizations of employers, trade unions and other stakeholders in
100 SIXTIETH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY
civil society and the private sector in order to strengthen international efforts on workers’
health;
• consistent with the actions undertaken by ILO, setting standards for protection of workers’
health, providing guidelines, promoting and monitoring their use, and contributing to the
adoption and implementation of international labour conventions;
• articulating policy options for framing national agendas for workers’ health based on best
practices and evidence;
• providing technical support for tackling the specific health needs of working populations and
building core institutional capacities for action on workers’ health;
• monitoring and addressing trends in workers’ health;
• establishing appropriate scientific and advisory mechanisms to facilitate action on workers’
health at global and regional levels.
31. Progress in implementing the plan of action will be reviewed and monitored using a set of
national and international indicators of achievement.
(Eleventh plenary meeting, 23 May 2007 –
Committee A, fifth report)
WHA60.27 Strengthening of health information systems
The Sixtieth World Health Assembly,
Recalling resolution WHA58.30 on achieving internationally agreed health-related development
goals, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration;
Noting resolution WHA58.28 on eHealth, and mindful of resolution WHA58.34 on the
Ministerial Summit on Health Research;
Acknowledging that sound information is critical in framing evidence-based health policy and
making decisions, and fundamental for monitoring progress towards internationally agreed health-
related development goals, including those contained in the United Nations Millennium Declaration;
Recognizing that health information systems in most developing countries are weak,
fragmented, have on occasion scattered, isolated and hard-to-reach primary sources of information,
and are understaffed and inadequately resourced;
Convinced of the importance of health information, disaggregated by gender, age and key
socioeconomic factors, to inform decisions on delivery of interventions to those who need them most;
Acknowledging that health information and research are complementary as foundations for
strengthening health systems and health policy;
Mindful of the key role of national statistics offices in developing and implementing national
statistical strategies and contributing to population health information;
RESOLUTIONS AND DECISIONS 101
Noting the constitutional normative mandates of WHO in health information and
epidemiological reporting, and reaffirming the Organization’s role as a founding partner of, and
hosting secretariat for, the Health Metrics Network which has determined core standards for health
information systems,
1. URGES Member States to mobilize the necessary scientific, technical, social, political, human
and financial resources in order:
(1) to recognize, establish and operationalize health information systems as a core strategy
for strengthening their national health systems;
(2) to develop, implement, consolidate and assess plans to strengthen their health information
systems through collaboration between health and statistics sectors and other partners, effective
coordination within health departments and a rational division of responsibilities;
(3) to determine programme-based information systems as subsets of national health
information systems and to organize the harmonization of the various programme subsystems in
this context;
(4) to bring together technical and development partners around a coherent and coordinated
country-led strategy and plan for strengthening health information systems that is fully
integrated in the mainstream of national health programmes and plans;
(5) to strengthen the capacity of planners and managers at various levels of the health system
to synthesize, analyse, disseminate and utilize health information for evidence-based
decision-making and for raising public awareness;
(6) to strengthen the capacity of health workers to collect accurate and relevant health
information;
(7) to link strengthening of health information systems to policies and programmes for
building of statistical capacity in general;
(8) to strengthen research on health information standards and to promote the standardization
and harmonization of health information systems;
2. CALLS UPON the health information and statistical communities, other international
organizations, including global health initiatives and funds, the private sector, civil society and other
concerned stakeholders, to provide strong, sustained support for strengthening of information systems,
including use of the standards and guiding principles set out in the framework of the Health Metrics
Network, and covering the spectrum of health statistics, including health determinants; health
resources, expenditures and system functioning; service access, coverage and quality; and health
outcomes and status, and according particular attention to information on poverty and inequity in
health;
3. REQUESTS the Director-General:
(1) to strengthen the information and evidence culture of the Organization and to ensure the
use of accurate and timely health statistics in order to generate evidence for major policy
decisions and recommendations within WHO;
102 SIXTIETH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY
(2) to increase WHO’s activities in health statistics at global, regional and country levels and
to provide harmonized support to Member States in order to build capacities for development of
health information systems and generation, analysis, dissemination and use of data;
(3) to promote better access to health statistics, encourage information dissemination to all
stakeholders in appropriate and accessible formats, and foster transparency in data analysis,
synthesis and evaluation, including peer review;
(4) to promote improved alignment, harmonization and coordination of health information
activities, bearing in mind the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness: Ownership,
Harmonization, Alignment, Results and Mutual Accountability (2005) and the Best Practice
Principles for Global Health Partnership Activities at Country Level,
1
and to give priority to
programmes that support health information systems;
(5) to undertake regular reviews of country experiences, to provide support for updating the
framework of the Health Metrics Network in line with lessons learnt and evolving
methodologies, to keep countries informed about the Network, to support countries’ capabilities
to become involved in the Network, and to report on progress as from the Sixty-second
World Health Assembly.
(Eleventh plenary meeting, 23 May 2007 –
Committee A, fifth report)
WHA60.28 Pandemic influenza preparedness: sharing of influenza viruses and
access to vaccines and other benefits
The Sixtieth World Health Assembly,
Having considered the report on avian and pandemic influenza: developments, response and
follow-up;
2
Reaffirming obligations of States Parties under the International Health Regulations (2005);
Recalling resolutions WHA58.5 and WHA59.2, which expressed concern about the potential of
the H5N1 strain of Influenzavirus A to cause a pandemic and urged Member States to disseminate to
WHO collaborating centres information and relevant biological materials, including clinical specimens
and viruses;
Recognizing the sovereign right of States over their biological resources, and the importance of
collective action to mitigate public health risks;
Recognizing that intellectual property rights do not and should not prevent Member States from
taking measures to protect public health;
1
Best Practice Principles for Global Health Partnership Activities at Country Level. Report of the Working Group on
Global Health Partnerships. Paris, High-level Forum on the Health MDGs, 14–15 November 2005.
2
Documents A60/7, A60/8 and A60/INF.DOC./1.
RESOLUTIONS AND DECISIONS 103
Recalling the Jakarta Declaration on Responsible Practices for Sharing Avian Influenza Viruses
and Resulting Benefits and the recommendations of the High-Level Meeting on Responsible Practices
for Sharing Avian Influenza Viruses and Resulting Benefits (Jakarta, 26–28 March 2007);
Recognizing, in particular, the importance of international sharing, with WHO collaborating
centres, of clinical specimens and viruses as a contribution to assessment of the pandemic risk,
development of pandemic vaccines, updating of diagnostic reagents and test kits, and surveillance for
resistance to antiviral medicines;
Stressing the need for effective and transparent international mechanisms aimed at ensuring fair
and equitable sharing of benefits, including access to, and distribution of, affordable diagnostics and
treatments, including vaccines, to those in need, especially in developing countries, in a timely
manner;
Noting WHO’s global pandemic influenza action plan to increase vaccine supply and its goal of
reducing the gap between the potential vaccine demand and supply expected during an influenza
pandemic by expanding over the medium- and long-term the supply of pandemic vaccine;
1
1. URGES Member States:
(1) to continue to support, strengthen and improve the WHO Global Influenza Surveillance
Network and its procedures through the timely sharing of viruses or specimens with WHO
collaborating centres, as a foundation of public health, to ensure critical risk assessment and
response, and to aim to ensure and promote transparent, fair and equitable sharing of benefits
arising from the generation of information, diagnostics, medicines, vaccines and other
technologies;
(2) to support and promote research to improve the prevention, detection, diagnosis and
management of influenza viral infection, with the goal of developing better tools for public
health;
(3) to support WHO as appropriate in order to identify and implement mechanisms referred
to in paragraph 2, subparagraph (1);
(4) to formulate as appropriate and to strengthen existing policies on influenza vaccines as an
integral part of their national influenza-pandemic preparedness plans;
(5) to strengthen where appropriate the capacity of national and regional regulatory
authorities to carry out efficiently and effectively necessary measures for the rapid approval of
safe and effective candidate influenza vaccines, especially those derived from new subtypes of
influenza viruses, and in this respect to encourage international collaboration among regulatory
authorities;
2. REQUESTS the Director-General:
(1) to identify and propose, in close consultation with Member States, frameworks and
mechanisms that aim to ensure fair and equitable sharing of benefits, in support of public health,
among all Member States, taking strongly into consideration the specific needs of developing
countries, such as, but not limited to:
1
Document WHO/IVB/06.13 – WHO/ODS/EPR/GIP/2006.1.
104 SIXTIETH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY
(a) innovative financing mechanisms to facilitate timely and affordable procurement of
pandemic vaccines for and by Member States in need;
(b) facilitation of acquisition by developing countries of capacity for manufacturing in-
country influenza vaccine;
(c) access to influenza-vaccine viruses developed by WHO collaborating centres for
the production of vaccines by all influenza-vaccine manufacturers, particularly in
developing countries;
(d) in times of public health emergencies of international concern, full access of all
influenza-vaccine manufacturers to pandemic influenza-vaccine viruses developed by
WHO collaborating centres for the production of pandemic influenza vaccines;
(e) technical assistance to developing countries to enhance local research and
surveillance capacity, including staff training, with the objective of assuring work on
influenza viruses at national and regional levels;
(f) upon request, provision of support to Member States, especially developing and
affected countries, to improve their capacity to establish and strengthen testing capacity
for H5 and other influenza viruses, including identification and characterization, and to
establish and strengthen the capacity of those countries to meet WHO requirements for
designating a reference laboratory or collaborating centre, if desired;
(2) to establish, in close consultation with Member States, an international stockpile of
vaccines for H5N1 or other influenza viruses of pandemic potential as appropriate, for use in
countries in need in a timely manner and according to sound public-health principles, with
transparent rules and procedures, informed by expert guidance and evidence, for operation,
prioritization, release of stocks, management and oversight;
(3) to formulate mechanisms and guidelines, in close consultation with Member States,
aimed at ensuring fair and equitable distribution of pandemic-influenza vaccines at affordable
prices in the event of a pandemic, in order to ensure timely availability of such vaccines to
Member States in need;
(4) to mobilize financial, technical and other appropriate support from Member States,
vaccine manufacturers, development banks, charitable organizations, private donors and others,
in order to implement mechanisms that increase the equitable sharing of benefits as described in
paragraph 2, subparagraphs (1), (2) and (3);
(5) to convene an interdisciplinary working group to revise the terms of reference of WHO
collaborating centres, H5 Reference Laboratories, and national influenza centres, devise
oversight mechanisms, formulate draft standard terms and conditions for sharing viruses
between originating countries and WHO collaborating centres, and between the latter and third
parties, and to review all relevant documents for sharing influenza viruses and sequencing data,
based on mutual trust, transparency, and overriding principles such as:
(a) timely sharing of viruses within the Global Influenza Surveillance Network;
(b) application of the same standard terms and conditions to all transactions, as
appropriate;
RESOLUTIONS AND DECISIONS 105
(c) timely consultation and sharing of information with originating countries,
especially on use outside the Network;
(d) for any use of influenza viruses outside the scope of the terms of reference of
WHO collaborating centres, H5 Reference Laboratories, and national influenza centres,
submission of a request directly to the relevant national influenza centre or other
originating laboratory of the country where the virus was collected and obtention of an
appropriate response from the national influenza centre; such requests would be bilateral
activities not requiring the intervention of WHO;
(e) recognition and respect of the crucial and fundamental role and contribution of
countries in providing viruses for the Global Influenza Surveillance Network;
(f) increased involvement, participation and recognition of contribution of scientists
from originating country in research related to viruses and specimens;
(g) attribution of the work and increased co-authorship of scientists from originating
countries in scientific publications;
(h) due consideration of relevant national and international laws;
(6) to assure a membership of the interdisciplinary working group consisting of four Member
States from each of the six WHO regions, taking into account balanced representation between
developed and developing countries and including both experts and policy makers;
(7) to convene an intergovernmental meeting to consider the reports by the Director-General
on paragraph 2, subparagraphs (1), (2), (3) and (8), and by the interdisciplinary working group
on paragraph 2, subparagraph (5), that shall be open to all Member States and regional
economic integration organizations;
(8) to commission an expert report on the patent issues related to influenza viruses and their
genes, and report to the intergovernmental meeting;
(9) to continue to work with Member States on the potential for the conversion of existing
biological facilities, such as those for the production of veterinary vaccines, so as to meet the
standards for development and production of human vaccines, thereby increasing the
availability of pandemic vaccines, and to enable them to receive vaccine seed strains;
(10) to report on progress on implementation of this resolution, including the work of the
intergovernmental meeting, to the Sixty-first World Health Assembly, through the
Executive Board.
(Eleventh plenary meeting, 23 May 2007 –
Committee A, fifth report)
106 SIXTIETH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY
WHA60.29 Health technologies
1
The Sixtieth World Health Assembly,
Having considered the report on health technologies;
2
Recognizing that health technologies equip health-care providers with tools that are
indispensable for effective and efficient prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation and
attainment of internationally agreed health-related development goals, including those contained in the
Millennium Declaration;
Understanding that health technologies, in particular medical devices, represent an economic as
well as a technical challenge to the health systems of many Member States, and concerned about the
waste of resources resulting from inappropriate investments in health technologies, in particular
medical devices, that do not meet high-priority needs, are incompatible with existing infrastructures,
are irrationally or incorrectly used, or do not function efficiently;
Acknowledging the need for Member States and donors to contain burgeoning costs by
establishing priorities in the selection and acquisition of health technologies, in particular medical
devices, on the basis of their impact on the burden of disease, and to ensure the effective use of
resources through proper planning, assessment, acquisition and management;
Noting the need to expand expertise in the field of health technologies, in particular medical
devices;
1. URGES Member States:
(1) to collect, verify, update and exchange information on health technologies, in particular
medical devices, as an aid to their prioritization of needs and allocation of resources;
(2) to formulate as appropriate national strategies and plans for the establishment of systems
for the assessment, planning, procurement and management of health technologies, in particular
medical devices, in collaboration with personnel involved in health-technology assessment and
biomedical engineering;
(3) to draw up national or regional guidelines for good manufacturing and regulatory
practices, to establish surveillance systems and other measures to ensure the quality, safety and
efficacy of medical devices, and where appropriate to participate in international harmonization;
(4) to establish where necessary regional and national institutions of health technology, and
to collaborate and build partnerships with health-care providers, industry, patients’ associations
and professional, scientific and technical organizations;
(5) to collect information that interrelates medical devices, which deal with priority public-
health conditions at different levels of care and in various settings and environments, with the
required infrastructure, procedures and reference tools;
1
The term “health technologies” refers to the application of organized knowledge and skills in the form of devices,
medicines, vaccines, procedures and systems developed to solve a health problem and improve quality of lives.
2
Document A60/26.
RESOLUTIONS AND DECISIONS 107
2. REQUESTS the Director-General:
(1) to work with interested Member States and WHO collaborating centres on the
development, in a transparent and evidence-based way, of guidelines and tools, including
norms, standards and a standardized glossary of definitions relating to health technologies, in
particular medical devices;
(2) to provide support to Member States where necessary in establishing mechanisms to
assess national needs for health technologies, in particular medical devices, and to assure their
availability and use;
(3) to develop methodological tools to support Member States in analysing their needs and
health-system prerequisites for health technologies, in particular medical devices;
(4) to provide technical guidance and support to Member States where necessary in
implementing policies on health technologies, in particular medical devices, especially for
priority diseases, according to different levels of care in developing countries;
(5) to work jointly with other organizations of the United Nations system, international
organizations, academic institutions and professional bodies in order to provide support to
Member States in the prioritization, selection and use of health technologies, in particular
medical devices;
(6) to establish and update regularly an evidence and web-based health technologies database
to serve as a clearing house which will provide guidance on appropriate medical devices
according to levels of care, setting, environment, and intended health intervention, tailored to
the specific needs of country or region;
(7) to provide support to Member States with vulnerable health-care systems so as to identify
and put in place appropriate health technologies, in particular medical devices, that facilitate
access to quality services in primary health care;
(8) to report on implementation of this resolution to the Sixty-second World Health
Assembly through the Executive Board.
(Eleventh plenary meeting, 23 May 2007 –
Committee B, fourth report)
WHA60.30 Public health, innovation and intellectual property
The Sixtieth World Health Assembly,
Recalling resolution WHA59.24, creating an intergovernmental working group with the purpose
of elaborating a draft global strategy and plan of action to provide a medium-term framework based on
the recommendations of the Commission on Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation and Public
Health, and to secure, inter alia, an enhanced and sustainable basis for needs-driven, essential health
research and development relevant to diseases that disproportionately affect developing countries,
proposing clear objectives and priorities for research and development, and estimating funding needs
in this area;
Concerned that communicable diseases account for approximately 50% of the burden of disease
in developing countries, and that access to medicines, vaccines and diagnostic kits is hampered by,
108 SIXTIETH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY
inter alia, inadequate health-care systems, lack of resources and prices that are beyond the reach of
many in the developing world;
Conscious of the growing burden of disease and conditions that disproportionately affect
developing countries, particularly those affecting women and children, including an upsurge in
noncommunicable diseases;
Noting that the Doha Ministerial Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health
confirms that the Agreement does not and should not prevent Members from taking measures to
protect public health;
Noting that intellectual property rights are an important incentive for the development of new
health-care products;
Welcoming with enthusiasm the commitment of the Director-General to the process
spearheaded by the Intergovernmental Working Group on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual
Property,
1. EXPRESSES appreciation to the Director-General for her commitment and encourages her to
guide the process to draw up a global strategy and plan of action that will provide a medium-term
framework for needs-driven essential health research and development;
2. URGES Member States to support fully and actively the Intergovernmental Working Group
process and provide adequate resources to WHO;
3. REQUESTS the Director-General:
(1) to ensure technical and financial support to the Intergovernmental Working Group in
order to facilitate completion of its tasks in time for its report to the Sixty-first World Health
Assembly;
(2) to provide as appropriate, upon request, and in collaboration with other competent
international organizations, technical and policy support to countries that intend to make use of
the flexibilities contained in the agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property
Rights and other international agreements in order to promote access to pharmaceutical
products,
1
and to implement the Doha Ministerial Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and
Public Health and other WTO instruments;
(3) to provide technical and financial support for regional consultative meetings in order to
set regional priorities that will inform the work of the Intergovernmental Working Group;
(4) to encourage the development of proposals for health-needs driven research and
development for discussion at the Intergovernmental Working Group that covers a range of
incentive mechanisms and includes also addressing the linkage between the cost of research and
development and the price of medicines, vaccines, diagnostic kits and other health-care products
1
The WTO General Council in its Decision of 30 August 2003 on Implementation of paragraph 6 of the Doha
Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health decided that “ ‘pharmaceutical product’ means any patented product,
or products manufactured through a patented process, of the pharmaceutical sector needed to address the public health
problems as recognized in paragraph 1 of the Declaration. It is understood that active ingredients necessary for its
manufacture and diagnostic kits needed for its use would be included.”
RESOLUTIONS AND DECISIONS 109
and a method for tailoring the optimal mix of incentives to a particular condition or product,
with the object of addressing diseases that disproportionately affect developing countries;
(5) to prepare background documents on each of the eight proposed elements of the plan of
action, as identified by the Intergovernmental Working Group, including:
• a matrix on ongoing activities and current gaps
• a matrix on current proposals referring to key stakeholders
• the financial implications of such proposals.
(Eleventh plenary meeting, 23 May 2007 –
Committee B, fifth report)
