WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the WHO Partnership with Collaborating Centres: Strengthening Value and Impact – 7 April 2025

Distinguished guests, dear colleagues and friends,

Good morning, good afternoon and good evening to all of you, and thank you for joining us.

As you know, today is World Health Day - WHO's birthday, and today we turn 77.

It was on this day, the 7^th of April, in 1948, that the WHO Constitution entered into force.

The WHO Constitution outlines 22 core functions of the Organization. One of those functions is "to promote and conduct research in the field of health".

The idea of using national institutions for international purposes dates back to the League of Nations, when laboratories were first designated as reference centres for the standardization of biological products.

And the Second World Health Assembly in 1949 established the policy that has prevailed ever since: that WHO should not establish its own research institutions, but utilize the expertise and capacity of institutions all over the world.

WHO would gain access to top universities, hospitals and research institutions worldwide.

Over the decades, the number of collaborating centres has grown, along with the scale of their commitments to WHO's programmes.

Today there are close to 800 collaborating centres in more than 80 Member States.

Your support to the Organization is comprehensive, covering a vast array of in-kind contributions that benefit most areas of our work.

Collaborating centres provide reference samples for influenza, measles, TB and viral hemorrhagic fevers;

They collect key epidemiological data on AMR;

They do groundwork on classification of diseases;

They develop technologies for various diseases including neglected tropical diseases;

And so much more.

You are an incredibly valuable asset that brings many millions of dollars of in-kind contributions to WHO's programmes around the world.

Without you, WHO would simply not be able to do the work we do.

At the same time, as you all know, multilateralism and international cooperation are under attack.

The sudden cuts to U.S. funding, and reductions in development assistance to support increased defence spending in some Member States, are having a huge impact on health and humanitarian work around the world.

Of course, WHO is affected and we are working to mitigate the impact.

But the impact on global health more broadly is even greater.

We are already seeing severe disruptions to programmes for HIV, TB, malaria, polio, immunization and the response to health and humanitarian crises.

This makes your contributions all the more important. It is only with your strengthened support that WHO can continue to serve our Member States and the people of the world.

As we speak, WHO is responding to outbreaks of Ebola, Marburg, mpox and more;

We're delivering humanitarian aid in Gaza, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and elsewhere;

We're supporting the rollout of malaria vaccines; We're working to eradicate polio;

We're expanding equitable access to lifesaving medicines;

We're supporting countries to promote health and address the root causes of disease in the air people breathe, the food they eat, the water they drink, their lifestyle, and the conditions in which they live and work;

And so much more.

WHO is a unique organization, with a unique constitutional mandate, a unique global footprint, unique global expertise, and unique global legitimacy.

And you are the special technical partners of this Organization.

Thanks to you, WHO gains access to top universities, hospitals and research institutions worldwide.

In these troubled times, how can we enhance our collaboration?

How can your institutions further support the implementation of WHO programmes at country level?

We count on you to strengthen your support to WHO, as we work together to realise the vision our founders had when they established WHO 77 years ago today: the highest attainable standard of health, as a fundamental right for all people.

Once again, my sincere thanks to all of you for your support and leadership.

Thank you.