Minister of Health Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Mohd Isham bin Haji Jaafar held bilateral discussions with his Maldivian counterpart Abdulla Nazim Ibrahim on cooperation in health of interest between the two countries and the region on the sidelines of the 156th session of the Executive Board (EB) of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland.
Ministers of health and representatives from several member countries of the EB of the WHO are attending the 156th session of the EB in Geneva, Switzerland from February 3 to 11.
Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Mohd Isham is leading the Brunei delegation.
Permanent Secretary at the Ministry Health Haji Maswadi bin Haji Mohsin, senior officers from the ministry and the permanent representative of Brunei Darussalam to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland joined the minister.
WHO EB comprises of 24 member countries, appointed to represent six WHO regions for a three-year term.
EB meetings are held biennially. The first is held at the beginning of the year for the board to discuss and agree on the agendas, resolutions and decisions to be considered by the World Health Assembly (WHA) for that year.
The second meeting is held in May-June following the conclusion of the WHA to implement the decisions and policies of WHA that have been approved, and also to provide guidance to facilitate the work of WHO in general. At the 77th WHA last year, the Sultanate was accepted to become a member of the EB as one of the representatives of member countries from the WHO Western Pacific Region for a three-year term from 2024-2027.
The 156th session of the EB has already reviewed the general agendas, including the report of the Director-General of the WHO, the report of the regional committees to the EB and the report of the Programme, Budget and Administration Committee of the Executive Board, management and governance, financing and implementation of the programme allocation/budget for the financial year 2024-2025 as well as the proposed allocation/budget for the year 2026-2027.
The session meeting also discusses administrative and technical agendas deliberated under several pillars where proposed resolutions and decisions were also examined for discussion and consideration later during the WHA-78 in May 2025. Several draft resolutions and decision were deliberated during 156th session of the EB to be reviewed and for consideration for submission at WHA-78, where Brunei co-sponsored a resolution proposed by Malaysia, namely Promoting and Prioritising Integrated Lung Health Approach. – James Kon
