Earlier this week, two of the Collaborative Centre’s Associate Directors, Ross Upshur and Quinn Grundy, attended the first Global Forum of WHO Collaborating Centres in Lyon, France, to advance an agenda for coordinated work on climate and health.
Following the One Health Summit, the World Health Organization (WHO) convened the historic first Global Forum of Collaborating Centres. The Forum brought together the directors of more than 800 WHO Collaborating Centres from across more than 80 countries, representing one of the world’s largest and most diverse global health networks. The multiple global challenges we collectively face, including the climate crisis and environmental degradation, were on the agenda, given the need for a strong, international, coordinated response, and a renewed commitment to equity and the generation of trustworthy evidence.
The WHO seeks to rely on its network of Collaborating Centres, five of which are based at the University of Toronto, to advance and implement its 14th Global Program of Work, which aims to respond to climate change, address the root causes of ill health, advance primary health care and health service coverage, prevent, mitigate and prepare for health risks and detect and sustain an effective response to health emergencies.
Drs. Grundy and Upshur will continue to advance cross-collaboration among WHO Collaborating Centres working in diverse areas of focus and geographic locations, in direct partnership with WHO, to bring multiple perspectives to address these complex challenges.
