PHA-Exchange> WHO in a time of transition

[Claudio]

> ----- Original Message -----
> From:  tevans at rockfound.org ; richard.horton at lancet.com
> Subject: Follow-up to Bellagio Consultation
>
> TO:
> Debabar Banerji
> Seth Berkley
> Giovanni Berlinguer
> Donald Berwick
> Douglas Bettcher
> Zulfiqar Bhutta
> Lincoln Chen
> Carlos Correa
> Lola Dare
> Davidson R.Gwatkin
> Ebi Kimanani
> Rene Loewenson
> Lars Lien
> Vicente Navarro
> Miriam Rabkin
> David Sanders
> Ian Smith
> Jeanette Vega
> Suwit Wibulpolprasert
>
> FROM:
> Timothy G. Evans, The Rockefeller Foundation
> Richard Horton, The Lancet
>
> Dear Colleagues:
>
> On behalf of The Lancet and The Rockefeller Foundation, we are writing to
> thank you for your participation in a consultation entitled, The World
> Health Organization: A Time of Transition, held at the Foundation's
Bellagio
> Study and Conference Center in Italy, May 5-9, 2003.
>
> As follow-up to a meeting held in Arusha, Tanzania in November 2002 at the
> Global Forum on Health Research and an open letter to the Executive Board
of
> the World Health Organization in a Lancet editorial in December 2002, this
> consultation sought to further examine a set of critical issues facing the
> new WHO leadership as it establishes its agenda.  Convening at the
Bellagio
> Frati allowed us to express views from 23 diverse experts from across the
> globe about the challenges and opportunities facing the WHO.  More
> specifically, participants explored what should be the vision and
evolution
> of the WHO over the next five to ten years.  Topics discussed included:
> global health, national health systems, the health of the people,
> surveillance and public health policy, standards and norm setting,
> international health law, global partnerships, and networks for health
> research.
>
> Consultation participants noted that the WHO, in this time of transition,
is
> at a critical juncture to reflect on who is the WHO now and who should the
> WHO focus on becoming.  What happens at the WHO will make a difference,
> however the WHO must be clear about its own comparative advantage and to
> whom it is accountable.  For example, what is the WHO's advocacy
leadership
> position?  What is the WHO role with respect to other technical agencies
in
> global health?  There are no easy answers to the myriad questions posed
> during the consultation. Though, one thing is clear. The WHO has a key
> leadership role in global health both technically and morally. In moving
> forward, the WHO should reflect back to its original constitution while
> setting a new institutional agenda and developing collaborative strategies
> for its multi-sectoral stakeholders.
>
> The Lancet is keen to continue fostering a dialogue on the WHO's role by
> publishing a set of commentaries (2,000-4,000 words) later in the year.
On
> the final morning of the consultation, the following paper topics were
> proposed:
> -  Values: On which values are policies based and what new values must be
> created?
> -  Advocacy and leadership: What is global health accountability?
> -  Knowledge: What are the axes and priorities of knowledge generation?
Who
> has access to knowledge? What are the advantages of knowledge to progress?
> -  Civil society and participation: What is the role of the public and
> medical professionals?
> -  Decentralization: What are the challenges and opportunities of
> decentralization?  What role should the WHO play at the country-level
> regarding decentralization?
> -  Pluralism (private public partnerships): What are the challenges and
> opportunities of mutli-sectoral partnerships, especially between private
and
> public sectors?
> -  Constitution in the 21st Century: A re-examination of the WHO
> constitution in the current global context.
>
> Do these issues resonate with you?  Are there other issues that need to be
> considered?  Consultation participants are invited to write commentaries,
> for submission to The Lancet, on the above issues as well as the broader
> dialogue related to the WHO leadership transition.  If you are interested
in
> authoring or co-authoring a commentary, please contact Richard Horton by
> September 15, 2003.
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Timothy G. Evans Richard Horton
>

> Dear Friends
> I am sending a copy of my reply to the report on the Bellagio
Consultation.
> D Banerji.


> Dear Drs Evans and Hortan
>
> I am presuming that your letter is a report on the proceedings of the
> Consultation. If that is so, it is a highly condensed version - `who is
the
> WHO now and who should the WHO focus on becoming?', `the WHO has a key
> leadership role in global health both technically and morally', and so on.
> The fate of the `four thrust areas', and the asymmetric response to the
> pandemic of AIDS and the regional epidemic of SARS by the WHO and the
> national health systems in some countries, which includes research,
> surveillance, transparency, policy formulation, community orientation, and
> so on, underline the challenge of playing moral and techinical leadership
> role. Over and above, the new administration has to contend with the
report
> of Lerer and Matzupoulos (IJHS, 2001) which describes the adminisrtation
as
> having `worst of both the worlds'.
>
> Happily, two of us, Timothy Evens and Ian Smith, have accepted important
> positions in the new administration and they will be in a better position
to
> promote the ideas they presented at the Consultation; they will also be
able
> to promote the spirit of the conclusions.
>
> I hope, some of us will respond to contribute to the areas demarcated by
> Thortan. I would add an additional topic: a commentry on the blueprint for
> action promised by the new DG by December.
>
> With regards,
>
> Sincerely yours.
> Debabar Banerji