Editor’s Note:
The WHO’s Executive Board – which continues its meetings in Geneva through mid-week –met last Sunday in a special session on ebola. The resolution adopted at that meeting – EBSS3.R1 – has been posted and is excerpted below.

This resolution represents, to our understanding , a milestone in affirming WHO’s special and specific charter and role in preparing for and responding to disease outbreaks and “humanitarian emergencies with health consequences.” This role has been a focus of debate and concern as the ebola/EVD crisis has unfolded.

Given the implications of this resolution, we recommend that readers engage the full special session documentation at http://apps.who.int/gb/e/e_ebss3.html and the full resolution at http://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/EBSS3/EBSS3_R1-en.pdf.
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WHO: EXECUTIVE BOARD: Special session on the Ebola emergency

EBSS3.R1 [Resolution adopted Sunday, 25 January 2015 at Special Session]
Agenda item 3 :: 25 January 2015
Ebola: ending the current outbreak, strengthening global preparedness and ensuring WHO’s capacity to prepare for and respond to future large-scale outbreaks and emergencies with health consequences
[Editor’s excerpts]
… Recalling resolution WHA64.10 on strengthening national health emergency and disaster management capacities and the resilience of health systems, which reaffirms, inter alia, that countries should ensure the protection of health, safety and welfare of their people and should ensure the resilience and self-reliance of the health system, which is critical for minimizing health hazards and vulnerabilities;

…Committed to an effective and coordinated response both for the current Ebola crisis and to make the corrective changes needed to prevent, detect and contain future outbreaks, and reaffirming the central and specialized role played by WHO in emergency preparedness and response, including in health emergency situations as described in Health Assembly resolutions WHA54.14, WHA58.1, WHA59.22, WHA64.10, WHA65.20 and WHA65.23;

Recalling resolution WHA65.20, which affirms WHO’s role as the health cluster lead in responding to the growing demands of health in humanitarian emergencies, and recognizes the specific requirements for effective health-related emergency operations;..

…Emphasizing also the fundamentally civilian character of humanitarian assistance, and reaffirming, in situations in which military capacity and assets are used as a last resort to support the implementation of humanitarian assistance, the need for the use to be undertaken with the consent of affected States and in conformity with relevant provisions of international law, [See United Nations General Assembly resolutions 60/124 and 69/135.]…

Current context and challenges; stopping the epidemic; and global preparedness
1. EXPRESSES its unwavering commitment to contain the Ebola outbreak and to remain engaged in promoting urgent actions to accelerate prevention, detection, control and treatment until we reach zero cases of Ebola virus disease; to contribute to building resilient health systems in the affected countries and other highly at-risk countries; and to provide support for people who have survived Ebola, and their families, and for children orphaned by the disease, including psychosocial support;

Leadership and coordination
2. RECALLS and REAFFIRMS the constitutional mandate given to WHO to act, inter alia, as the directing and coordinating authority on international health work, and to furnish, in emergencies,2 necessary aid upon the request or acceptance of governments, and recognizes the need to accelerate ongoing reform of the Organization;

3. FURTHER REAFFIRMS WHO’s role as the lead agency of the global health cluster, including its role to ensure the timely declaration of appropriate response levels to humanitarian emergencies with health consequences, and calls on Member States3 and relevant actors in humanitarian situations with health consequences to support WHO in fulfilling its role as lead agency of the Global Health Cluster within its mandate;

4. FURTHER REAFFIRMS that, in connection with the declaration on 8 August 2014, by the WHO Director-General that the 2014 outbreak of Ebola virus disease in some West African countries is a public health emergency of international concern, all WHO authorities with respect to the administration, deployment and other human resource matters concerning preparedness, surveillance and response rest with the Director-General, and shall be exercised in a manner consistent with the principles and objectives of WHO’s Emergency Response Framework, while minimizing the negative impact on regular and routine work of WHO…