Pan Invited to Join WHO Group

Wei Pan, associate professor, was invited to join the World Health Organization Reference Group on Health Statistics (WHO RGHS) Task Force on Surveys. The task force will advise WHO on the methodology on health surveys.

The WHO RGHS will advise and support WHO’s efforts to assist member states to ensure maximal gains in population health through policies and programs informed by data and information that is based on rigorous scientific methods and approaches.

The WHO RGHS comprises of 24 members, co-chaired by professor Alan Lopez from the University of Melbourne and Elena Varavikova from the Russian Ministry of Health. The primary means by which the RGHS will carry out its scientific function is through a series of Task Forces. It is envisaged that each Task Force would comprise of about a dozen members with demonstrable expertise in the topic.

Eight Task Forces are being formed initially to respond to the priority areas identified by WHO, one of which is a Task Force on Surveys is co-chaired by  Emmanuela Gakidou and Nayu Ikeda. While the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the Task Force are yet to be finalized, a draft ToR is attached. Given your expertise in this area, we are delighted to invite you to join this Task Force. We anticipate that the Task Force would meet virtually. The first meeting of the Task Force is likely to be held in May. In this meeting, we plan to finalise the ToR, agree on a work plan to address the key scientific issues related, and discuss the frequency and duration of the meetings that would be appropriate for the work of this Task Force. At this stage, travel is not anticipated for participation in the Task Force. The outputs from the work of the Task Force on Surveys will be presented by the co-chairs at the biannual meetings of the RGHS. Following discussion at the RGHS, the scientific advice and recommendations of the Task Force will be communicated to WHO for implementation. Feedback from the RGHS meetings will be shared with the Task Force members.