The World Health Organisation needs to be revamped, Director-General Margaret Chan said Monday, as a drop in voluntary contributions by member states has burnt a hole in the body's finances. "Reform is essential. And WHO is now embarking on the most extensive administrative, managerial, and financial reforms, especially financial accountability," Chan told delegates as the UN agency kicked off its 64th assembly.
"When WHO was dealing mainly with germs, hygiene, medicines, vaccines and sister sectors, like water supply and sanitation, our job was much more straightforward," she said. "But that job has changed, gradually over time and then dramatically within the past decade. I see a WHO that pursues excellence, an organisation that is effective, efficient, responsive, objective, transparent and accountable."
Dozens of health ministers and more than 1,800 delegates representing the 193-member body, part of the United Nations, gathered at the meeting that ends on May 24. The WHO has previously said it expects a 300-million-dollar (212-million-euro) deficit this year due to plunging voluntary contributions. Most of the organisation's financing needs depends on such contributions.