Regional Committee for Europe, third special session: virtual session, 15 May 2023: letter by the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation

Special session of the Regional Committee for Europe Third special session Virtual session, 15 May 2023 EUR/RCSS3/INF./3 12 May 2023 | 230427 ORIGINAL: ENGLISH Letter by the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation Following the publication of the draft decision: Closure of the WHO European Office for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases (NCD Office) in Moscow, Russian Federation, and relocation of its functions and management of activities to Copenhagen, Denmark (EUR/RCSS3/CONF./2) in view of the third special session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe, the WHO Regional Director for Europe received a letter on 12 May 2023 signed by Dr Oleg Salagay, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation. The letter was addressed to Ambassador Ms Nora Kronig Romero, RC72 Executive President and Chairperson of the third special session of the Regional Committee for Europe, and copied to Dr Hans Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe. This letter is shared for information in advance of the opening of the third special session. It is provided in its original format in the Russian language, alongside its translation into English language. EUR/RCSS3/INF./3 page 2 Unofficial translation Chair of the special session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe Ambassador N. Kronig Romero Copy: WHO Regional Director for Europe Dr. H. Kluge Dear Nora Kronig Romero! We address you in regards to the letter from 30 countries of the WHO European Region (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, and United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) to hold a special session of the Regional Committee for Europe (hereinafter referred to as the Special Session) in accordance with Rule 5 of the Rules of Procedure of the Regional Committee for Europe and the relevant decision of the WHO Regional Office for Europe (WHO/Europe) to hold the Special Session on May 15, 2023. Please note that the abovementioned letter from 30 countries of the WHO European Region contains a request to consider at the Special Session the issue of "closing the WHO European Office for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases (NCO Office) in Moscow, Russian Federation, and subsequent relocation of its functions and management of activities to the WHO Regional Office for Europe in Copenhagen". As justification for their decision, the countries indicate that "the immediate and long-term health impacts in Ukraine and beyond, caused by Russia's unprovoked, unjustified, and illegal war of aggression against Ukraine, continue to be a matter of concern". Meanwhile, for our part, we state that the presented justification has not any relation to the work of the NCO Office. Thus, according to the Donor Agreement between the World Health Organization and the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation aimed at strengthening health systems for the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases (hereinafter referred to as the Agreement) the NCD Office is intended to contribute to and support the efforts of the WHO/Europe to reduce the burden of noncommunicable diseases in the European Region, with a particular focus on low- and middle-income countries. In accordance with the second session of the 30th Standing Committee of the Regional Committee for Europe (December 1-2, 2023), it was noted that the NCD Office continues most of the technical work in the field of NCDs under current conditions (some staff were obliged to start working remotely from Copenhagen). Thus, we state that nothing prevents the continuation of the work of the NCD Office. Therefore, there are no grounds for holding the Special Session. We note that the decision proposed by 30 countries of the European Region contradicts the renewed Strategy of the WHO Regional Office for Europe with regard to geographically dispersed offices (hereinafter referred to as the Strategy), adopted at the 62nd session of the Regional Committee for Europe, according to which "the existing GDOs are fundamentally positive structures for helping to further develop public health in the WHO European Region and, in particular, for implementing the new vision for the Regional Office. The maintenance of existing GDOs and the development of new ones should therefore be encouraged". We believe that not all existing options for continuing the work of the NCD Office have been studied and we propose to return to their analysis. In accordance with the provisions of the Strategy the Members States need to be kept informed about major changes in the relationship with any GDO through the Standing Committee of the Regional Committee for Europe (SCRC) and the Regional Committee. However, in an emergency situation, the SCRC could be the first point of contact; based on its advice, information about a closure could be communicated to all the Member States in a written consultation. We note that the options for continuing the work of the NCD Office were discussed at the second session of the 30th Standing Committee of the Regional EUR/RCSS3/INF./3 page 3 Committee for Europe (December 1-2, 2022), however, at the third session of the 30th Standing Committee of the Regional Committee for Europe (March 14-15, 2023).) the issues of the NCD Office were not discussed, which is a violation of the procedure for considering the closure of the GDO. Please note that there is currently no procedure in place at the WHO/Europe to close the GDO, and therefore the decision to close the NCD Office requires further discussion. We also inform you that the Donor Agreement and the Addendum no. 1 to the Agreement have equal force. According to the Donor Agreement, the parties have the right to terminate it unilaterally. At the same time, the Addendum no. I to the Agreement does not provide for the termination procedure, the end of the project is linked exclusively to the deadline for its implementation -November 1, 2024, which is the date of termination of contractual obligations between the Russian side and WHO/Europe. These documents do not provide for other ways to terminate the Agreement, except for the expiration of the specified documents or the consent of the parties. At the same time, we inform you that the closure of the NCD Office and the transfer of its functions to the WHO Headquarters in Copenhagen will certainly affect the implementation of the ongoing projects in the field of combating NCDs, as well as the effectiveness of the work of the WHO/Europe. In this regard, taking into account the abovementioned, the Russian Federation, guided by Rule 14 of the Rules of Procedure of the Regional Committee for Europe, proposes to consider the possibility of amending the relevant agenda item of the Special Session, setting it out as follows: "Establish a sub-committee of the Regional Committee to inquiry the closing of the WHO European Office for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases (NCD Office) in Moscow and the transfer of its functions and management of activities to the WHO Regional Office for Europe in Copenhagen, Denmark", as well as the relevant draft decision point which will read as follows: "DECIDES to establish a sub-committee of the Regional Committee to inquiry the closing of the WHO European Office for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases (NCD Office) in Moscow and the transfer of its functions and management of activities to the WHO Regional Office for Europe in Copenhagen, Denmark. Oleg O. 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