10 May 2015 – A meeting of heads of WHO collaborating centres (CCs) in the Region was held from 29 to 30 April 2015 at the WHO Regional Office.
The meeting brought together the heads of WHO CCs in Bahrain, Egypt, Islamic Republic of Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, with directors and responsible officers from the Regional Office to discuss a range of issues, including aspects of the process of designating institutions as WHO CCs, reporting requirements and best ways to ensure optimal benefit for the Region, WHO and the institutions involved.
The objectives of the meeting were to:
- emphasize general rules and policies regulating (re)designation of WHO CCs and streamline their work with WHO’s programme of work;
- discuss challenges and issues in implementation of planned activities of WHO CCs, in collaboration with WHO technical units; and
- orient WHO CCs on WHO’s strategic areas of work in the Region.
Among the issues discussed were use of WHO’s name and logo, funding and conflict of interest, intellectual property rights, and challenges, opportunities and sustainability with a focus on priorities for future work, as well as coordination and implementation of joint activities with WHO.
The main outcomes of the meeting were better understanding of the roles and responsibilities of WHO CCs and improved collaboration among WHO centres in common areas of work. The meeting recommended establishing a network of WHO CCs in the Region, building on modern communication methods, where WHO could act as a coordinating platform for collaboration between WHO CCs.
