PART II. 1. Introduction
REVIEW OF THE PROGRAMME BUDGET, 1978-1979
At its seventh session, the Regional Committee, in resolution WPR/RC7.R7, decided "that the establishment of a sub-committee on programme and budget, consisting of six members plus the Chairman of the Regional Committee, should become a routine activity of the Regional Committee"; and recommended that "the membership of this sub-committee be rotated among the Representatives of various Members, subject to the provision that any Representative desiring to be a member of the Sub-Committee should be entitled to participate". At its twenty-first session, the membership of the Sub-Committee was increased to halfl the Members in the Region. The Sub-Committee on Programme and Budget met on Wednesday afternoon, 7 September, under the chairmanship of Dr T. Saburi and considered its draft report on Friday morning, 9 September, under the chairmanship of Dr J. Sumpaico. The attendance was as follows: Members in accordance with the principle of rotation: Australia China Fiji France Japan New Zealand Republic of Korea Tonga United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Other members also in attendance were: Lao People's Democratic Republic Malaysia Philippines
I"Half the Members" means that half an odd number would be the next higher full number - e.g., one half of 17 is 9.
Samoa Singapore Socialist Republic of Viet Nam United States of America The Regional Director was also present. Dr Hirshman, Director of Health Services, acted as Secretary. He was assisted by Miss Newton, Chief, Administration and Finance. The Sub-Committee had before it the following documents: WPR/RC28/2, Corr.l and Corr.2 WPR/RC28/P&B/l Review of the programme budget for 1978 and 1979 Suggested guidelines for the Sub-Committee on Programme and Budget Budget performance 1976 technical cooperation with and services to governments of the Region by programme, by country or area and by project Proposed modifications to the programme budget for 1978 and 1979 Revised tentative projections of the budget estimates for 1980 and 1981 Regional Director's Development Programme: use in 1977 and proposals for 1978 and 1979
WPR/RC28/P&B/2 and Corr.l
WPR/RC28/P&B/3 WPR/RC28/P&B/4
WPR/RC28/P&B/5 and Corr.l
2.
Review of budget performance 1976 - technical cooperation with and services to governments of the Region by programme, by country or area and by project (Document WPR/RC28/P&B/2 and Corr.l)
Dr Hirshman, Secretary, drew attention to Annex 1 of document WPR/RC28/P&B/2 which showed the United States dollar rate of implementation of the programme under the regular budget for 1976 as 99.95%. It was to be noted, however, that this did not represent the true rate of programme delivery, which was lower. In other words, money had been spent, but it had not been possible to buy all that was intended. This was because of continually increasing costs of staff, consultants and fellowships •. The Secretary then went on to describe the information provided in Annexes 2 to 6 of the same document. It was to be noted that, where a WHO Representative's office covered more than one country or area, costs were distributed between them. Papua New Guinea had its own WHO Representative's office, established in August 1976.
There were, as always, differences between programmes as originally approved and as actually implemented. The differences were mainly the results of changes in government priorities and thus amended requests; there were also political changes, such as those in the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and Democratic Kampuchea which had resulted in programme changes. Such differences were unavoidable but they could be minimized; the new programme budget procedure, which would commence in 1980-81, aimed at just that, by asking for only broad requests from governments, by programme, two years ahead and detailed requests closer to the implementation period. US$430 ODD, most of the 1977 allocation for Democratic Kampuchea, had been returned to WHO Headquarters, since no contact had been established with that country and it would not be possible to programme the funds. In reply to a query from the Representative of Australia, the Sub-Committee noted that the same criteria had been used in drawing up the figures shown in document WPR/RC28/P&B/2 as those used by the Director-General to determine the application of resolution WHA29.48. It agreed that it was essential to use the same criteria throughout the Organization to determine what was to be counted as technical cooperation. Two Representatives commented on the figures shown in Annex 1 of document WPR/RC28/P&B/2; the Representative of Tonga on the low allocation for virus diseases and the Representative of New Zealand on the disparity between the low allocation for cardiovascular diseases and that for the biomedical aspects of radiation. The Sub-Committee noted that promotional activities were taking place in 1977 on viral hepatitis and dengue haemorrhagic fever and hoped that they would sow the seed for increased activities and requests for technical cooperation in the future in the field of virus diseases. The Sub-Committee also noted that disparity between allocations for a particular year did not mean that activities were not being pursued in the field receiving the lower allocation. Funds were necessary to promote certain activities on a country and intercountry basis. This was the case for biomedical aspects of radiation in the year under review. Once impetus was given, expenditure could be reduced. Promotional activities in other programmes would subsequently be emphasized and this was the case for cardiovascular diseases. 3. Consideration of proposed modifications to the programme budget for 1978 and 1979 (Documents WPR/RC28/2, Corr.l and Corr.2, and WPR/RC28/P&B/3)
The Secretary then drew attention to document WPR/RC28/2 which contained the proposed modifications to the programme budget for 1978 and 1979 presented to the Regional Committee at its twenty-seventh session in documentWPR/RC27/2. Document WPR/RC28/P&B/3 explained the background to these modifications. There were, as usual, modifications
in country programmes because of changes in requests from governments. Modifications also occurred because: (1) certain posts in the Regional Office had been abolished, following resolution WHA29.48 adopted by the Twenty-ninth World Health Assembly, as reported to the twenty-seventh session of the Regional Committee; (2) additional provision had been made for the Regional Director's Development Programme (see paragraph 5 below); (3) provision had been made for a WHO Representative's office in the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and for an increase in the programme of research promotion and development in accordance with resolution WHA29.64 adopted by the Twenty-ninth World Health Assembly and; (4) again in accordance with new organizational trends, provision had been made for training in management/country health programming. The Secretary drew attention to the new fellowship obligation system that came into effect in 1977, whereby only one year's provision might be obligated at one time. This had led to savings in 1977, but had to be taken into account in making obligations for the continuation of fellowships in subsequent years. Pages 11 to 18 of document WPR/RC28/2 set out modifications in the programme budget financed from sources other than the regular budget. Some of these changes, mainly small, occurred in projects assisted by funds from UNFPA. Because of continuing uncertainties in UNDP financing, it had been necessary to delete certain projects which it had been hoped could be financed from this source. The contribution to the Voluntary Fund for Health Promotion for projects in the Western Pacific Region from the Japan Shipbuilding Industry Foundation had made it possible to reinstate certain projects in the programme for 1978 and 1979; for example, those on hospital management, design and maintenance, and filariasis research. Some details of the use being made of this most valuable contribution were shown in document WPR/RC28/2 under "Other sources of funds". Following a comment from the Representative of Australia, the Sub-Committee requested that, in future documentation presenting modifications to the programme budget, sufficient information be included for both years to enable the revised figures to be compared with the original provisions without having to refer to the original programme budget documertt. 3.1 Revisions requested by governments to the programme budget for 1978 and 1979
The following requests for cooperation in 1978 and 1979 were presented during the meeting of the Sub-Committee: Lao People's Democratic Republic The Representative of the Lao People's Democratic Republic said that detailed requests, relating to new posts, consultants, local costs and to certain equipment and supplies, were being transmitted to the Secretariat for consideration.
Macao The Representative of Portugal mentioned that he wished to request a fellowship for Macao for 1978 and 1979, details of which would be submitted later. Malaysia SES/OOl The Representative of Malaysia asked that the post of sanitary engineer be retained in 1979. Philippines The Representative of the Philippines requested the following additional provisions: (1) one consultant for 2-3 months in 1978 to review with staff of the Veterans Memorial Hospital techniques and applications for electron-microscopy; one 3-month fellowship for a hospital staff member to study the serodiagnosis of tropical infectious diseases, if possible at the Center for Disease Control, Atlanta.
(2)
The Sub-Committee noted that the above-mentioned requests would be given careful consideration and if necessary discussed further with the Governments concerned. 4. Consideration of the revised tentative projections for 1980 and 1981 (Document WPR/RC28/P&B/4)
The Secretary drew attention to document WPR/RC28/P&B/4. These projections had been reviewed in 1976 in response to the resolution of the Twenty-second World Health Assembly on long-term planning. As a result of increased programme costs, the Director-General had issued revised tentative allocations for 1980 and 1981 increasing the total amounts to US$ 15 447 000 in 1980 and US$ 17 048 000 for 1981. The resulting adjusted tentative projections, by appropriation section, were set out in Annex 3 to document WPR/RC28/2. 5. Report on the use of the Regional Director's Development Programme in 1977 and review of proposals for 1978 and 1979 (Document WPR/RC28/P&B/5 and Corr.l)
The Secretary explained to the Sub-Committee that the funds originally set aside for the Regional Director's Development Programme and reviewed by the Regional Committee in 1976, had been increased by US$ 663 000 in 1978 and US$ 940 000 in 1979 through the re-allocation of additional resources to technical cooperation by the DirectorGeneral. This was in order to ensure achievement of the specific target set by resolution WHA29.48 which requested the Director-General
to "reorient the working of the Organization with a view to ensuring that allocations of the regular programme budget reach the level of at least 60% in real terms towards technical cooperation and provision of services by 1980". As there had been insufficient time, between the adoption of resolution WHA29.48 and consideration of the policy and strategy for the development of technical cooperation by the November 1976 meeting of the Programme Committee of the Executive Board, to consult governments on plans for the use of these additional funds, they had been added to the Regional Director's Development Programme, thereby increasing the funds in the Programme to US$ 962 000 in 1978 and US$ 1 400 000 in 1979. Careful consideration had been given to the best use of these funds for direct technical cooperation. The use to which they were being put in 1977 and proposals for their use in 1978 and 1979 were shown in Annex 1 to document WPR/RC28/P&B/5. A balance remained in 1979; proposals for its use would be submitted to the Regional Committee in 1978. 6. Resolutions
The Committee adopted the following four resolutions in connexion with the programme budget: (1) (2) (3) (4) Budget performance 1976 (WPR/RC28.R6); Modifications to the programme budget for 1978 and 1979 (WPR/RC28.R7); Revised tentative projections of the budget estimates for 1980 and 1981 (WPR/RC28.R8); Use of the Regional Director's Development Programme in 1978 and 1979 (WPR/RC28.R9).