Read online: https://www.who.int/news/item/06-04-2026-who-calls-for-action---together...
Extracts below and a comment from me.
==
6 April 2026, Geneva - The World Health Organization (WHO) today calls on people everywhere to renew their commitment to working together and supporting science as the twin engines driving better health, under the World Health Day 2026 theme: “Together for health. Stand with science.” The campaign marks the anniversary of WHO’s founding on 7 April 1948, launching a year-long public health campaign...
“Science is one of humanity’s most powerful tools for protecting and improving health,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization. “People in every country live longer and healthier lives on average today than their ancestors did, thanks to the power of science. Vaccines, penicillin, germ theory, MRI machines and the mapping of the human genome are just some of the achievements that science has delivered that have saved lives and transformed health for billions of people.” ...
WHO, over its 78 years of convening of global scientific organizations, has stood at the forefront of global health and scientific transformation...
WHO will host the Global Forum of its Collaborating Centres network from 7–9 April with representatives from over 800 academic and research institutions from more than 80 countries. These Centres support WHO’s research, technical assistance and capacity-building work worldwide...
WHO emphasizes that science must continue to guide health decision-making at all levels. WHO and its partners generate and translate evidence across a wide range of health priorities, from infectious diseases and chronic conditions to mental health, nutrition and environmental risks, supporting countries to deliver effective, equitable care...
==
COMMENT (NPW): There are several significant points in this press release:
1. HIFA collaborates with WHO to promote the availability and use of reliable healthcare information, which is fundamental to all of the above. Since 2022 we have ben working in official relations with WHO and have consistently encouraged WHO to champion the goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information and convene stakeholders to develop a global strategy for its realisation.
2. HIFA's global consultation 2023/2024 reaffirmed that if WHO were to explicitly champion the goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information and convene stakeholders to develop a global strategy for its realisation, this would be a game-changer for the global evidence ecosystem as it would signal high-level political commitment which has to date been lacking.
3. Since the publication of our consultation report, there have been strong indications that WHO is indeed moving towards explicit and active champioing of universal access.
4. When HIFA (Global Healthcare Information Network) was admitted in official relations we were surprised that there was no mechansim specifically to facilitate interactions among WHO's 200+ non-state actors in official relations. We recommended that WHO consider a community of practice (perhaps with dynamics similar to HIFA) to facilitate 24/7 interaction and cooperation.
5. There is as yet no CoP for NSAs in official relations, but it is very encouraging to see that WHO is now convening WHO Collaborating Centres this month.
6. It will be interesting to see if WHO takes this opportunity to explicitly champion unversal access to reliable healthcare information.
7. Meanwhile the HIFA-WHO Collaboration working group is seeking support to implement the agreed HIFA-WHO Collaboration Plan 2025-2027.
https://www.hifa.org/projects/hifa-official-relations-who
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org