WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION REGIONAL COMMITTEE Sixth Session Singapore . 13-~9 September 1955 Agenda Item 14
RIDIONAL OFFICE FOR THE WESTERN PACIFIC
wp/Rc6/7· 1 July 1955
ORIGINAL:
ENGLISH
GUIDING PRINCIPLES CONCERNING PROJECTS TO BE FINANCED WITH REnULAR FUNDs
Resolution \VP/RC5.R9 passed by the Regional Committee during its fi fth s.~ssion held in Manila requests the Regional Dire cter: "(1) to prepare guiding principles by which projects to be finamed by Regular Funds may be selected, and (2) to submit a report on the above subject to Member States far consideration of the Regional Committee at its :Sixth o5·8ssion. 1I In compliance with this resolution, and after conSUltation with WHO Headquarters, the following points are submitted for your consjderation: 1. Projects to be financed under the Regular Budget:.
1.1 In the absence. of any specific directives by the Health assembly or the Executive Board as to the principles which should govern tl"e selection of pro.iects to be financed from Regular as distinct from Teohnical Assistance fums, it would seem to be appropriate to include in th:: Regular programmes of the Organization projects which, uhder the Constitution, would contribute to the achievement of the ultimate objtctives of the Organization, such as those which are designed to strengthen national health services as well as those which are basic.and essential to the attainment of the intermediate objectives as set forth in tre IIgeneral progranrne ·of work covering a specific period" as approved by the Health Assembly. 1.2 Having regard to resolutions 14HA7.35 and IVHA7.41, in which the Seventh World Health Assembly requested the Director-General "as far as practicable for future years" to develop the Regular and Technical Assistance programmes sera-rately and also "to include in the estimates of expenditure from Technical Assistance funds provisions for the fellowship requirEments of appropriate individual projects (including individual fellowships), irrespective of the source from which other costs relating to such projects may be financed r" it may be inferred that the object of the request was to permit of the financing from Regular rather than Technical Assistance funds of a corresponding proportion of long-term projects. It would, therefore, be in accord with the wishes of the Health Assembly to include in the Regular pro grammes pro,je cts of So long-tem na. ture, leaving projects of a relatively short-term nature (including fellowships) to be financed from Technical Assistame, thereby limiting the extent to which /adjustroon ts
WP/RD6/l Page 2 adjustmen ts may have to be made in the planned Regular programmes in the event of any curtailment in the amount of Technical Assistance funds made available to WHO in the future.
1.3 In addition, practical considerations point to the need to include in the Regular programmes the following types of projects as unacceptaple, on the grounds that they have no direct bearing upon economic development, for financing from Technical Assistance funds. (a) (b) (c) 1~4
rehabilitation of the physically handicappedj seminars or training courses of very 3hort duration; projects relating to research, either basic or applied.
On the same grounds, projects which have in the past been the subject of unfavourable comment by the Technical Assistance Board include those relating to: "I:';
(a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) 2.
thoracic 'surgery; mental health; psychiatric nursing; anaesthesiologyj cancerj curative and clinical medicine; visi ting teams of medical scientists.
Extent to which projects may be financed franTA funds: ,
2.1 In terms of the guiding principles governing the Expanded Programme as set forth in Annex I of ECOSOC resolution 222(IX)A, the primary objective of the programme is to help under-developed countries "to strengthen their national economies •••• and to ensure the attainment of higher levels of economic and social welfare for their entire·· populations". Annex I further provides that the projects falling within the competence of participating organizations "should be carried out by them, and the co-ordination of their work should be effected, with due regard to their constitutions and the relations established between· them". 2.2 With due regard, therefore, to the Con'stitution and to the guiding principles of the Expanded. Pr?grarrune, the Executive Board, at its eleventh session, in resolution EBll.R57.6 extended and amplif~~d. "the priori ties established by the Executive Board at its sixth session for health pr.ogrammes financed under the Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance for EconOmic Dev~lopment aCyording to the following criteria: (1) Assistance in the health field should be designed primarily to strengthen tile basic health service of th€ country, and to meet the most urgent problems affecting large sections of the population, with due regard to the stage of social or economic development of the country concerned. /(2) Efforts
WP/RD6/7 Page .3 (2) Efforts should be directed towards measures of preventive and curative medicine, it being fully recognized that the line between preventive and curative medicine is a tenuous one, and that, for the development of optimal health programmes, activities more directly related to curative medicine must in some instances be undertaken. Professional and technical tra:ining and education, including assistance to educational institutions and fellowships directly related to projects for economic and social development and preferably a part thereof, ahould form essential elements of the programme. Emphasis must be laid on the training of nurses and auxiliar,y personnel in giving assistance to national training schemes for the development of national and regional training programmes as particularly needed by the under-developed countries. (.3)
(4) Control of major communicable diseases should be dire'ctly related to improving the health of the population for productive .' purposes. (5) Development and improvement of the standard of environmental sanitation is essential for the improvement of health and the raising of the standard of living, especially when undertaken in relation to social, industrial or agricultural schemes. Other basic factors for the promotion of a healthier, and therefore a more productive, population should include such measures as health education of the public, improvement of maternal and child health and of nutrition. (6)
(7) Measures should be taken to mitigate the probable consequences of economic changes concurrent with the economic and social development. Social and occupational health measures must not, therefore, be ignored. (8) Demonstration and pilot projects of limited duration for applying new methods and techniques, and designed to act as catalysts and produce an impact in the country, should be undertaken, since they offer an effective means of quick and successful trans fer of kn~wledge." These criteria were endorsed by the Sixth 'world Health Assembly in resolution WHA6.27.
3..
Conclusions:
3.1 The conclusions to be derived from the above considerations suggest the follOwing guiding principles for the selection of projects to be financed in future from Regular rather than Technical Assistance funds: /(1) Projects,
WP IRfj6/l ,. Page 4: '; ,,(1) Pro jects, such as those i>lhich provide as sis tance to, governmentsin·strengthening national health services, . which are basic' to the achievement of the objectives of, . the OrganizatiCD as set out in its Constitution and "general programme of work for a spo: cific period" • . ,
(2) Projects of a long-term rather than a short-term nature, except to the extent that any. short-term projects may pe in.,appropriate for financing from Technical Assistance funds on the grounds that they do not have a direct bearing on E,>conomic development. (3) Projects of the 4Ypes.indicated in paragrapml.3 and 1.4 above, which are considered inappropriate for financing from Technical Assistance funds. 3.2 It should further be borne in mind that the request of the 1'Iorld Health Assembly, as expressed in resolutioIl3 WHA7.35 and WH47~4l, to the effect that the Regular and Technical Assistance programmes should be developed separately in future implies that projects already financed or planned to be financed from Regular funds in any one year should continue to be so financed in subs€q,uen t years • Seven~h
.i:~ 'view of the above information, the Committee may i>lishto adopt a resolution along the following lines: The Regional Committee, Having studied the proposed guiding principles concerning projects to be financed wi th Regular funds, ADOPTS the criteria proposed; and REQUESTS the Regional Director to follow these criteria when formulating future programmes.
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