Motivated by discussions at the First and Second Forums of WHO Collaborating Centres in the Western Pacific in November 2014 and 2016, Japan's WHO collaborating centres are looking for greater opportunities to contribute to WHO's programme of work.
Japan's National Center for Global Health and Medicine convened the first Collaboration Meeting for Japanese WHO Collaborating Centres on 23 April 2017 in Tokyo, Japan. The one-day meeting brought together 73 participants from Japan's 34 WHO collaborating centres as well as Dr Hiroyuki Yamaya, Director, Office of Global Health Cooperation and Dr Hiroki Nakatani, International Affairs Advisor, from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. The WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific, Dr Shin Young-soo and Director of Programme Management, Dr Takeshi Kasai, also attended the meeting.
The meeting programme included updates from each centre, discussion of Japan's engagement with the United Nations and discussion of how WHO and WHO collaborating centres interact. The centres considered innovative ways that they can work together. Ideas included joint development of a training module on patient safety among seven centres, development of education tools on hospital quality improvement systems, and collaborative research on people-centred care.
Participants also reflected on the increased focus on WHO collaborating centres at the regional level. They discussed their respective roles in terms of new ways of working required by WHO's increasing focus on country support and the Sustainable Development Goals. The Regional Director acknowledged "challenges in changing in how we work and emphasized that this is needed to deliver on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The centres identified a common work agenda for the next three years and they plan to re-convene in 2018 to share their progress.
The centres were eager to contribute to advancing WHO priorities and sought the Organization’s support to help centres contribute beyond their specific terms of reference.
In taking forward meeting recommendations for WHO's action, the Organization has convened responsible officers to discuss the recommendations and ways that centres may be engaged more in WHO's work.
Following the debrief discussion, responsible officers of WHO collaborating centres in Japan are working with their centres to assess the feasibility of, and ways to action, ideas raised during the meeting.