WHO | Week Ahead for media - 07 February, 2025

Friday, 07 February 2025 | Issue 290

Cancer patient at the National Medical Research Center for Pediatric Hematology,
Oncology and Immunology in Moscow, Russian Federation 2020
WHO /NOOR / Sebastian Liste

Conflict in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory

WHO work on mpox

Latest news from WHO and WHO events page

03 to 11 February

156^th Session of the WHO Executive Board

The 156^th session of the WHO Executive Board (EB156) continues in Geneva, Switzerland, including on Saturday, 08 February. The agenda, meeting documents and the daily timetable are available in six UN languages here. The public proceedings will be webcast live from this page.

Tuesday, 11 February

WHO Academy Inaugural Conference

09.30 to 12.30 CET and 15.30-16.40 CET, WHO Academy campus Lyon, France and online

Following the opening of the Academy in December 2024, the inaugural WHO Academy conference Lifelong learning in health: A global outlook will bring together professionals and policymakers from across the globe to share insights and best practices in the design, development and delivery of health and care learning and contribute to quality assurance processes for high-quality lifelong learning.

Further information about this conference and registration: here.

Also see WHO Academy pages: www.who.int/about/who-academy/ or contact smythl@who.int

Childhood cancer medicines for lower-income countries

On Tuesday, 11 February WHO and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital will announce the arrival of critically-needed childhood cancer medicines in pilot countries, delivered through the Global Platform for Access to Childhood Cancer Medicines.

The first-of-its-kind platform aims to provide an uninterrupted supply of quality-assured childhood cancer medicines to low- and middle-income countries where childhood cancer survival rates are often less than 30%, far below the rates in high-income countries.

WHO's work on childhood cancer: https://www.who.int/initiatives/the-global-initiative-for-childhood-cancer

Experts are available for interviews, the embargoed press release will be available upon request on Monday, 10 February - please contact jinn@who.int with a copy to mediainquiries@who.int

Shaping ethical and inclusive genomics:
WHO’s principles for human genome data collection, access, use and sharing

13.00 to 15.00 CET, webinar

This webinar provides a unique opportunity to hear directly from WHO experts and global leaders about the WHO Guidance for human genome data collection, access, use and sharing, and its practical implications for research, policy, and healthcare systems.

The guidance, released in November 2024, establishes – for the first time - a comprehensive set of principles to ensure respect for individual rights, promote equity, and foster collaboration. As such, it represents a major milestone in advancing ethical standards for genomic data globally.

Further information and registration: here.

Also see: WHO Genomics Programme

Wednesday, 12 February

Safe sporting events, stronger public health: key considerations and country experiences for mass gatherings

13.00 to 14.00 CET, WHO WPI-WIN webinar

Mass gatherings, like sporting events or religious pilgrimages, are highly visible events attended by tens of thousands of people. They can pose public health risks and strain the public health resources of the hosting community, city or country, and require considerable preparedness and response capabilities on the part of the host.

This webinar is the first in a series focused on managing public health risks in mass gatherings. The topic of the first seminar is sporting events, while upcoming sessions will cover other types of mass gatherings, including religious, cultural, and political events.

Additional information and registration: here.

Thursday, 13 February

Release of the 2025 update to the International Classification of Diseases

On Thursday, 13 February WHO will release the 2025 update to the 11^th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11), which introduces new features designed to improve interoperability, accuracy, and ease of use in national health systems. A new dedicated module for Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani, and related systems will also be introduced, to ensure the comprehensive classification of diverse healthcare practices for traditional, complementary and integrative medicine.

ICD is the global standard for health data classification, supporting better data collection, analysis, and decision-making. Since its adoption by the World Health Assembly in 2019, ICD-11 has been used to record and report mortality and morbidity statistics; today, it includes approximately 17 000 diagnostic categories and more than 100 000 terms for injuries, diseases and causes of death.

Other information of interest:

First meeting of the Strategic and Technical Advisory Group (STAG) on the SPECS 2030 initiative, 12 to 13 February 2025

Selection of stories on WHO's work in emergencies

GOARN's remote support to Myanmar’s health response amid ongoing crisis, 7 February
Uganda trains community health workers from Kole, Mukono and Wakiso districts on community-based approach to Ebola, 6 February
Des soins gratuits pour les victims d’inondations (Free health care for flood victims), photo story from Chad, 6 February
Layla’s journey to vaccinate her son during the big catch-up in Somalia, 6 February
WHO sets out to assist 3 million Ukrainians with critical health needs this year, 4 February
Campanha de Vacinação contra a Cólera em Angola: Protecção e Prevenção para Todos (Cholera vaccination campaign in Angola: protection and prevention for all), 3 February

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