The Norwegian board member is Director-General of the Directorate, Bjørn-Inge Larsen. In connection with the membership, health- and foreign affairs administrations have jointly developed a Norwegian WHO strategy for the term.
In the Norwegian collaborative effort, the Directorate is the health-technical body. Health-technical WHO matters are coordinated by Department for global health, while other departments have advisory roles in their respective fields.
Globalization and consequences for health administration
Health politics is characterised by increasing globalization. One sign of this is strengthening interdependence between health and foreign affairs matters. The board membership, therefore, is part of shaping and following-up of Norwegian foreign policy.
The signs of globalization are especially visible in areas like migration of health workers and the spread of communicable diseases. Effective health responses are increasingly becoming an international matter, as communicable diseases easily cross boarders. Norwegian WHO policy is therefore coordinated with Norwegian UN policy and Norwegian policy in relevant multilateral organizations.
According to the WHO strategy, Norway’s effort builds on and promotes important principles like human rights, democratization, equality and eradication of poverty.
Marketing and migration
Non-communicable diseases, most often triggered by the four major risk factors tobacco use, physical inactivity, unhealthy diet and alcohol, comprise a growing share of the world’s disease burden. The Directorate therefore emphasises stronger prioritization of the effort towards non-communicable diseases in global health.
During the board membership, Norway has been an active advocate of stronger regulation of marketing of food and non-alcoholic beverages towards children.
Norway has also contributed greatly to the development of The Global Code for International Recruitment of Health Workers, due to active recruitment. The Code helps reduce migration from less to more developed countries.
Reform
WHO is in a process of large-scale reform. The reforms are to ensure a more effective, streamlined and visible organization. The November 2011 Executive Board Special Session was an important milestone in the reform process.
Norway’s efforts in the reform have emphasised the need for WHO to be thoroughly democratic and efficient, to maintain WHO’s position as the leading normative and technical organization in global health.