The first meeting of WHO Collaborating Centers

The first meeting of WHO Collaborating Centers (WHO CCs), chaired by Dr Malek Zadeh, Deputy Minister for Research and Technology, was held on Tuesday, 10th of June, 2014 with the presence of the directors of WHO CCs in Iran and Dr Asadi Lari, General Director of International Relations Department, MOHME , AVA Diplomatic Reports.Currently, there are over 700 WHO CCs across more than 80 countries. WHO CCs are diverse institutes that contribute to research and beyond. They are designated by Director-General to carry out activities in support of WHO’s agenda on the areas such as occupational health, communicable diseases, nutrition, nursing, mental health, chronic diseases and health technologies.

Slightly over a quarter (28%) of the WHO CCs in the Region are located in Iran. These centers of excellence contribute to various dimensions of WHO work.

The meeting was a unique opportunity for the directors of WHO CCs in Iran to meet and enter into dialogue with each other as well as WHO directors from Headquarter (Geneva), EMRO (Cairo), and WHO Country Office.

The main objectives of the meeting were to outline the general rules and policies for WHO CCs, clarify responsibilities and the contribution of the WHO CCs to WHO’s agenda,  exchange current practices and common challenges and plan for improving performance of WHO CCs and their alignment with WHO’s regional and global priorities and needs

It is worth mentioning that from WHO side, Dr Najeeb Al-Shorbaji, Director of Knowledge, Ethics and Reseach Department, WHO/HQ ;  Dr Olla Shideed, Technical Officer-Research Promotion and Development and WHO Regional Office Focal Point for WHO CCs; and Dr Jihane Tawilah, WHO Representative-Iran, participated in this meeting and expressed and shared their viewpoints with the representatives of Collaborating Centers in Iran.