NEWS
Recent news from WHO
WHO celebrated World Health Day on 7 April by focusing attention on the many lives that can be saved during earthquakes, floods, conflicts and other emergencies through better design and construction of health facilities and by preparing and training health staff. WHO recommends that governments, public health authorities and hospital managers train health workers for emergencies; ensure adequate staff and supplies for emergencies; design and build safer hospitals; and retrofit existing health facilities.
WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan appointed international film star Jet Li as WHO Goodwill Ambassador on 3 April. His first official task was to launch World Health Day in Beijing, China, and spread the World Health Day message of making health facilities safe during emergencies.
WHO reaffirmed its commitment on 2 April, World Autism Awareness Day, to provide technical assistance to Member States to deliver integrated health services to people with autism and other mental and developmental disorders of childhood.
Health ministers from countries with the greatest burdens of drug-resistant tuberculosis agreed, on 2 April, to a series of actions to accelerate efforts to halt and reverse the global epidemic of the disease. Dr Chan and the Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, were joined by the Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China, Li Keqiang, and ministers and representatives of 27 countries with a high burden of tuberculosis, at a three-day meeting organized by WHO.
For more about these and other WHO news items please see: http://www.who.int/mediacentre
SAGE: request for nominations
The Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) is the principal advisory group to WHO for vaccines and immunization. WHO is soliciting proposals for nominations for current and future vacancies on SAGE.
Nominations for members from all regions have to be submitted by 30 May 2009. Nominations are particularly solicited from the African, South-East Asian and European regions.
Instructions for nominations are available at: http://www.who.int/immunization/sage_nominations/en/index.html