First Meeting of WHO Collaborating Centers in The Islamic Republic of Iran

1. First Meeting of WHO Collaborating Centers in The Islamic Republic of Iran 10 -11 June 2014 Tehran, Iran

2. Global Research Strategies and the role of WHO CCs Najeeb Al-Shorbaji Director, Knowledge, Ethics and Research World Health Organization

3. The mandate: research in the WHO Constitution, 1948 Article (n) to promote and conduct research in the field of health; Article 28: The Executive Board may authorize the DG to undertake studies and research about an urgency.

4. Six core functions of WHO • Providing leadership on matters critical to health and engaging in partnerships where joint action is needed • Shaping the research agenda and stimulating the generation, translation and dissemination of valuable knowledge • Setting norms and standards, and promoting and monitoring their implementation • Articulating ethical and evidence-based policy options • Providing technical support, catalysing change, and building sustainable institutional capacity • Monitoring the health situation and assessing health trends.

5. WHO six leadership priorities • Advancing universal health coverage.All people receiving quality health services that meet their needs without exposing them to financial hardship, has never been higher on the international health agenda; • Health-related Millennium Development Goals: • to reduce child mortality; • to improve maternal health; • to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases;

6. WHO six leadership priorities • Addressing the challenge of noncommunicable diseases. The WHO Global NCD Action Plan 2013-2020 (GAP) is a critical component of the global NCD architecture and a clear roadmap for action to reach the global targets by 2025.  • Implementing the provisions of the International Health Regulations (2005): • legally-binding agreement significantly contributes to global public health security; • improve the capacity of all countries to detect, assess, notify and respond to public health threats

7. WHO six leadership priorities • Increasing access to essential, high-quality, safe, effective and affordable medical products: • Supporting universal health coverage. • Monitoring and the use of information. • Access to medicines for noncommunicable diseases. • Rational use of medicines. • Antimicrobial resistance. • Access to medicines for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, reproductive and maternal and child health. • Innovation and the local production of medicines.

8. WHO six leadership priorities • Addressing the social, economic and environmental determinants of health • the social and economic environment, • the physical environment, and • the person’s individual characteristics and behaviours.

9. A few milestones.. • 1959 Advisory Committee on Medical Research (1986 changed to ACHealthR-ACHR) • 1972 – Special Programme Research Development and Training in Human Reproduction • 1975 – TDR: Special Programme Research Development and Training in Tropical Diseases • 1990 - WHA43.19 The role of health research • 2005 – EVIPNet – Evidence Informed Policy Network • 2005 – International Clinical Trials Registry Platform ICTRP • 2007 – Guideline Review Committee • 2010 – Global strategy for health research

10. WHA43.19 The role of health research (1990) The Resolution calls on all Member States to undertake essential health research appropriate to national needs in order to: • identify and understand their own priority health problems; • improve the use of limited resources; • improve health policy and management; • foster innovation and experimentation; • contribute to new knowledge;

11. WHO Strategy on Research for Health Agenda item 11.19, 63rd WHA (2010) WHO’s role in research….. and the role of research in WHO… • Recognizes research as central to progress in global health; • Identifies how WHO can work with Member States and partnersto harness knowledge, science and technology to produce research evidence and tools to improve health outcomes.

13. Five main goals of the WHO Research Strategy: • Capacity – building capacity to strengthen health research systems • Priorities – supporting the setting of research priorities that meet health needs, particularly in low and middle income countries • Standards – creating an environment to promote good research practices and enable the greater sharing of research evidence, tools, and materials • Translation – ensuring quality evidence is turned into policies, services and products • Organization – action to strengthen the research culture within WHO and improve the management and coordination of WHO research activities

14. WHO research strategy: five main areas of activities • Diagnosis - Measurement of the problem; • Determinants - understanding causes of the problem; • Development of solutions; • Translation and delivery of the solution; • Evaluation of the impact of the solution.

15. Research priority setting checklist 5. Planning for implementation Establish plans to translate the priorities to actual research. Who will implement the research priorities? And how? • Context: • which contextual factors underpin the process: What resources are available for the exercise? What is the focus of the exercise (e.g. who is it for? 6. CriteriaSelect criteria to focus discussion around setting research priorities. 2. Use of a comprehensive approach Adopt or adapt an established method or develop own. 7. Methods for deciding prioritiesChoose an approach to ranking or reaching consensus on priorities. 3. InclusivenessDecide who should be involved and why. Balance/representation expertises and balanced gender and regional participation? 8. EvaluationDefine when and how the priorities will be reviewed. Research priority setting is not a solitary exercise! 4. Information gathering. literature reviews, collection of technical data (burden of disease or cost-effectiveness data), broader stakeholder views, reviews or impact analyses of previous priority setting exercises or exercises from other geographical levels. 9. TransparencyWrite a clear report: Who set the priorities? How exactly were the priorities set?

19. Collaboration is core to WHO • 1949 Second World Health Assembly concluded that "research in the field of health is best advanced by assisting, coordinating and making use of the activities of existing institutions"

20. WHO Collaborating Centres • "In everything we do, WHO relies on the expertise of hundreds of formal WHO Collaborating Centres, in your countries, and thousands of the best brains in science, medicine, and public health, in your countries. They give us their time freely and it is my strong impression that they do so with pride." Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General, address to the Sixty-fourth World Health Assembly, 16 May 2011.

21. Functional scope of WHO Collaborating Centres • collection, collation and dissemination of information; • standardization of terminology and nomenclature, of technology, of diagnostic, therapeutic and prophylactic substances, and of methods and procedures; • development of evidence-based technical guidance tools and resource materials on various topics; • development and application of appropriate technology; • provision of reference substances and other services; • participation in collaborative research developed under WHO's leadership, including the planning, conducting, monitoring and evaluation of research; evaluation of WHO interventions in countries; and promotion of the application of the results of research; • training, including research training; • coordination of activities carried out by several institutions on a given subject; • capacity-building work at country level; • provision of monitoring, preparedness and response services to deal with disease outbreaks and public health emergencies.

22. Functional scope of WHO Collaborating Centres • participation in collaborative research developed under WHO's leadership, including the planning, conducting, monitoring and evaluation of research; evaluation of WHO interventions in countries; and promotion of the application of the results of research;

23. About WHO networks of CCs Today more than 750 CCs in over 80 countries

24. About WHO CC networks Network Monitors the evolution of influenza viruses Provides recommendations A global alert mechanism for the emergence of influenza viruses with pandemic potential. Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System > Collaborating Centres > Reference Laboratories > National Influenza Centres Network Development, maintenance and use of health classifications. > Collaborating Centres WHO Network for the family of International Classifications Network It strives to enhance the collaborative activities of Nursing and Midwifery Collaborating Centres, supporting WHO’s efforts towards Health for All. The Global Network of WHO CCs for Nursing & Midwifery Development Collaborating Centres (44)

25. About WHO CC networks Network The Global Network of CCs in Occupational Health > Collaborating Centres (60) > GOs Supports WHO in implementing the objectives of the Global Master Plan of Action on Workers' Health 2012 – 2017 Network Support the WHO-HQ Ethics and Health Unit to implement its mandated work in the field of ethics and health Global Network of WHO CCs for Bioethics > Collaborating Centres (5) Currently designating 2 more

26. How research contributes to universal health coverage WHR 2013 presents 12 case studies to illustrate: • the range of methods from observational studies to randomized controlled trials • the diversity of problems for which research can offer solutions • the nature of the research cycle (questions, answers, more questions) • the relationship between study design and strength of inference • the link between research, policy and practice

27. The World Health Report 2013 Key messages

28. Thank you Q & A