Permanent Secretary Päivi Sillanaukee to represent Finland in the WHO Executive Board
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Finland has been elected to serve as member of the Executive Board of the World Health Organization (WHO) from 2018 to 2021. Finland’s representative in the Executive Board will be Permanent Secretary Päivi Sillanaukee from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.
Finland was elected to serve as member of the Executive Board in a meeting of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe in Budapest on 13 September. The term starts in May next year.
The Executive Board, in cooperation with the Director-General and the Secretariat, gives effect to the decisions and policies of the Health Assembly and prepares as far as possible the matters to be discussed in the Health Assembly. The Health Assembly is the supreme decision-making body for WHO. It generally meets in May each year. As member of the Executive Board, Finland can have more influence on international health policy and its implementation than its size would suggest.
WHO’s new Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attended the meeting of the Regional Committee for Europe in Budapest. Dr Tedros laid out his priorities for WHO’s work. These priorities are to progress towards universal health coverage, help rebuild health systems, respond to epidemics and other health emergencies, and achieve the health-related Sustainable Development Goals. The Director-General also intends to reform and reinforce the work of the Executive Board and the Health Assembly.
WHO monitors the global health situation (for example pandemics), produces global health statistics regularly and updates the disease classification system as well as produces information on the different countries’ health policies and their results.
The Executive Board is composed of 34 rotating members from WHO’s six geographical regions. Finland’s previous term as member of the Executive Board was in 1995–1997.
Inquiries:
Päivi Sillanaukee, Permanent Secretary, tel. +358 2951 63356