Democratizing Global Health Coalition

Letter to the Sixty-first Session of the WHO – Regional Committee for Europe

The signatories of this letter represent a wide range of public interest groups that are committed to the realization of the right to health worldwide, and highly value the constitutional mandate of WHO as the “directing and coordinating authority” for the realization of this right. Most of these organisations contributed in May 2011 to the Delhi Statement and have now gathered in a coalition called Democratizing Global Health (DGH, www.democratisingglobalhealth.org), whose aim is to support the WHO reform process through a united voice serving the public interest, whenever possible.

We consider the reform process a historic opportunity for WHO to rediscover its multilateral identity in a globalized world. Yet, the intent of our letter today is to express our concerns over the reform by proposed the Director General (DG) as formulated in 4 concept papers (on the World Health Forum; on Governance of WHO; on the Independent Formative Evaluation of the World Health Organization as well as on the Overview on WHO Reform for a Health Future). We wish to provide Member States with alternative proposals and action points. The evaluations and recommendations contained in this document stem from the shared aspiration of a stronger organization than today. WHO’s reform, if approached correctly, can determine a more effective and democratic governance for public health.

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Published: 16. September 2011

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