Chairing highest WHO panel a lifetime experience for Noor Hisham

 

“It’s a lifetime experience chairing this highest committee in WHO,” says health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah in a WhatsApp message to Bernama today.

Noor Hisham, who is retiring from the civil service in a week, is in Geneva chairing the second meeting of the World Health Organization standing committee on health emergency prevention, preparedness and response (SCHEPPR), being held for two days since yesterday.

He was appointed as the committee’s first chair for a term of between one and two years at its first meeting, which was held virtually, on Dec 12 last year.

Last Monday, the media reported that Noor Hisham (above) will retire as the health director-general on April 21, after 35 years in government service.

During the meeting, Noor Hisham emphasised that SCHEPPR’s main role was to support and strengthen the WHO, international health regulations (IHR) and intergovernmental negotiating body.

He said the introductory briefings by the independent oversight and advisory committee (IOAC), the global preparedness monitoring board (GPMB) and WHO health emergencies (WHE) programme were also provided to orient standing committee (SC) members to their work.

“As mentioned before, this standing committee will not duplicate, but rather complement, the good work done by the IOAC and GPMB. It is also crucial for the SC to prioritise its work, and remain focused in its discussion and deliberation,” he added.

The WHO’s 34-member executive board, during its annual meeting in May last year, agreed to form SCHEPPR to help speed up its response to global health emergencies such as Covid-19.

The standing committee shall meet at least twice annually for the conduct of its regular work and may decide to convene extraordinary meetings in order to deal with urgent matters.

- Bernama