WHO Director-General's speech at the Fifth Regional Forum of WHO Collaborating Centres in the Western Pacific – 4 November 2025

Dr Saia Piukala, distinguished delegates, dear colleagues and friends,

Good morning from Geneva, and thank you for accommodating me in your programme today.

Instead of recording a video message, I really wanted to join you live, because I see Collaborating Centres as even more important to WHO now than ever.

One of WHO's core functions, outlined in our Constitution, is "to promote and conduct research in the field of health".

In 1949, the Second World Health Assembly established the policy that has applied ever since: that WHO should not set up its own research institutions, but leverage the expertise and capacity of institutions all over the world.

Over the decades, the number of collaborating centres has grown, along with the scale of their commitments to WHO's programmes.

Today there are almost 800 collaborating centres in more than 80 Member States, including 190 in the Western Pacific Region.

Thanks to you, WHO gains access to top universities, hospitals and research institutions in your region, and around the world.

Your contributions strengthen WHO's ability to promote health, provide care, and protect communities.

You generate evidence, build capacity, and support Member States in addressing their most pressing health priorities.

Collaborating centres provide reference samples for influenza, measles, TB and viral hemorrhagic fevers;

They collect key epidemiological data on AMR;

They do groundwork on classification of diseases;

They develop technologies for neglected tropical diseases;

And so much more.

You are an incredibly valuable asset that brings many millions of dollars of in-kind contributions to WHO's programmes around the world.

Without you, WHO would simply not be able to do the work we do.

As you all know, sudden cuts to our funding are having a huge impact on health and humanitarian work around the world - on countries, and on WHO itself.

This makes your contributions all the more important in translating global strategies into local solutions.

We want to use our existing Collaborating Centres better, and we want to expand the network even further.

We plan to hold our first global meeting of all Collaborating Centres in April next year at the WHO Academy in Lyon, France, to explore how we can make best use of this powerful network of leading institutions.

We want to hear from you how we can enhance our collaboration, and how your institutions can further support the implementation of WHO programmes at country level.

I hope that your discussions this week will generate powerful ideas and reinforce the bonds that make our collective work so impactful.

Thank you for your continued collaboration and commitment building a healthier, safer, and fairer world for all.

Salamat po. Thank you.