What is the aim of the WHO EB?
The annual Board meeting is held in January when the members agree upon the agenda for the World Health Assembly and the resolutions to be considered by the Health Assembly. A second shorter meeting takes place in May-June, as a follow-up to the Health Assembly. The main functions of the Board are to implement the decisions and policies of the Health Assembly, and advise and generally to facilitate its work.
This January, the EB focused on several key global health priorities. These include advancing universal health coverage, addressing health emergencies and improving global well-being.As a non-state actor (NSA) in official relations with WHO, SIOP participated in the official proceedings, connected with the global cancer and rare disease community, led one constituency statement, an individual statement and supported others.Those interested in viewing the EB156 proceedings are invited to access the recording via the EB156 landing page, which includes links to the livestream and important EB documents, such as agenda and daily schedules.

 

As usual, the EB156 agenda is very comprehensive and we attempted to match them with the priorities outlined in our strategic plan. Hence, SIOP will actively engaged on the following topics:

Agenda Item 6: Universal Health Coverage: SIOP led constituency statement on the Rare Disease Resolution supported by:

  • CCI (Childhood Cancer International)
  • IAHPC (International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care)
  • IPA (International Pediatric Association)
  • ISN (International Society of Nephrology)
  • IAPB (International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness)
  1. Bringing visibility to childhood cancer & other rare childhood diseases in the framework of an upcoming new WHA Resolution on Rare Diseases
  2. Advocating that the actions stemming from the Resolution coordinate with existing WHO initiatives in relevant fields – incl. the GICC, GAP-f, research
  3. Childhood cancer inclusion in UHC schemes across continents demonstrates that bold strides in health equity are possible in rare diseases.

Read statement

Agenda Item 7: Follow-up to the political declaration of the third high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the prevention and control of NCDs” Individual statement reiterating:

  1. Childhood cancer burden & GICC response
  2. Childhood cancer as a WHO Best Buy à multiplier potential of investment in this area.
  3. Actions on childhood cancers should be integral to renewed commitments on NCDs & childhood cancer to be explicitly included in the process leading up to the 4th High Level Meeting on NCDs and its political declaration.

Read statement

Furthermore, SIOP supported:

Constituency statement led by WFNMB & ISR on Agenda item 6. UHC, Topic Imaging

  1. Medical imaging is vital for the diagnosis of numerous communicable and NCDs, incl. cardiovascular diseases, neurologic diseases and cancer
  2. Timely and equitable access to medical imaging, including nuclear medicine, should be an essential component of the WHO PHC & UHC initiatives.

Constituency statement led by NCD Alliance on Agenda item 12. Workforce

  1. Strengthen capacity for essential public health functions to respond to the growing burden of NCDs
  2. Prioritise health workforce issues, as they are critical for achieving Universal Health Care (UHC), Child Mortality, and NCD related targets.
  3. Deliver age and disability inclusive and gender responsive services
  4. We highlight the importance of establishing collaborative care models that use multidisciplinary teams, from community health workers to specialists.

Statements have been posted to official WHO NSA statement platform as well as on the SIOP website. We would like to thank Mts Olga Kozhaeva (Director European and Global Health Policy, Paediatric Oncology, Siop Europe) for her unwavering guidance, our Advocacy committee, WHO NSA engagement committee and all partners who contributed their expertise to these statements.

Read more and view our statements here