The Minister of Health, Mónica García, announced this Monday her candidacy to be part of the Executive Committee of the World Health Organization (WHO) with the aim of Spain having “a relevant role” in health policies at the international level.
“It would imply being part of the body that manages the governance of the WHO. That Spain has a seat there and that we are able to define, determine and influence global policies, as far as health is concerned, I think is good news for Spain. We are proud to be able to present this candidacy,” García highlighted in statements to journalists in the Congress of Deputies before a conference organized by the Spanish Society of Internal Medicine (SEMI).
According to the WHO, the Executive Council is made up of 34 members who are technically qualified in the field of health and who are elected for a three-year term. The main meeting of the Board, which decides the agenda for the next Health Assembly and adopts resolutions for submission, is held in January, and a second, shorter meeting is held in May, immediately after the Assembly. of Health, to deal with matters of a more administrative nature.
The main functions of the Executive Board are to give effect to the decisions and policies of the Health Assembly, to advise it and, generally, to facilitate its work.
The Executive Committee is made up of countries from Africa (Cameroon, Comoros, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Rwanda, Senegal, Togo), America (Barbados, Brazil, Canada, United States, Paraguay, Peru), Asia (Maldives, South Korea, Timor ), Europe (Belarus, Denmark, Slovakia, Slovenia, France, Moldova, Switzerland, Ukraine), the Eastern Mediterranean (Afghanistan, Morocco, Qatar, Syria, Yemen) and the Western Pacific (Australia, China, Japan, Malaysia, Micronesia).
For its part, the World Health Assembly is the supreme decision-making body of the WHO and its main function is to determine the policies of the Organization.
For García, being part of the Executive Council of the WHO, of which Spain has not been a part since 2005, would serve to look at health “from a more global level and make political impact on everything that has to do with the social determinants of health: climate change and mental health”. “We have many things to say as a health system and also how we see global health and what Spain can participate in. I believe that we have a robust health system based on pillars and values that are fundamental and that are shared by the WHO,” García concluded.