Regional Director
WHO/Europe and the European Forum of Medical Associations (EFMA) prepare for next meeting
Centre left: Leah Wapner, Secretary-General of EFMA and Zsuzsanna Jakab, WHO Regional Director for Europe. Photo: WHO/Oluf Christoffersen
WHO/Europe hosted the EFMA’s Liaison Committee on 10 February 2012, and discussed preparations for EFMA’s next meeting and its partnership with WHO.
During the Liaison Committee meeting, Zsuzsanna Jakab, WHO Regional Director for Europe, recognized EFMA’s important role in reaching out to medical professionals, and invited the organization to participate in the consultation on the new European policy for health, Health 2020. WHO will organize an interactive session on Health 2020 at the next EFMA meeting; it will build on feedback from the consultation and facilitate a broad debate on medical associations’ perspectives and roles in public health.
As well-informed medical staff play a crucially important role in the fights against antimicrobial resistance and to maintain immunization levels across the WHO European Region, Zsuzsanna Jakab and Leah Wapner, Secretary-General of EFMA, agreed to scale up their collaboration in these key areas.
The next EFMA meeting will be hosted by the Armenian Medical Association and take place on 19–20 April 2012 in Yerevan, Armenia. In addition to Health 2020, the financial crisis, social determinants of health and policies on alcohol will be on the agenda.