The World Federation of Hemophilia (WFH) is very pleased to announce the renewal of its official non-state actor status with the World Health Organization (WHO). This important status level entitles the WFH to play an active role with WHO as a formal interlocutor as regards bleeding disorders issues.
In order to maintain this official status, the WFH must submit a collaboration plan with WHO every three years, describing the framework of action between the two organizations. Based on this plan, the status is renewed by the decision of the Executive Board of WHO. This decision was taken during the 148th session of the Executive Board in January 2021 and the status of the WFH was renewed.
Since 1969, WFH has had this official non-state actor status, allowing the WFH to develop a relationship with WHO through joint meetings and reports on bleeding disorders, particularly in the context of blood safety issues in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Having an official relationship with WHO empowers the two organizations to collaborate towards WHO’s mission to “promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable”. One of the core functions of WHO is to direct and coordinate international health work by promoting collaboration, mobilizing partnerships and galvanizing the efforts of different health actors to respond to national and global health challenges.
The renewal of the official non-state actor status means that the WFH is in a very good position to further leverage the work done with its national member organizations (NMOs) at national and regional levels through enhanced collaborations with WHO headquarters as well as WHO regional offices.
In today’s COVID-19 pandemic reality, it is critical to ensure that the voice of the bleeding disorders community continues to be heard. The WFH is confident that this new collaborative plan will allow the WFH to continue to promote safety and care standards for people with a bleeding disorder around the world.