29 June 2016: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced the appointment of several UN agency heads to the Global Health Crises Task Force. In the same week, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the appointment of Peter Salama as Executive Director of its Health Emergencies Programme.

Three individuals are co-leading the Global Health Crises Task Force: UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson; WHO Director-General Margaret Chan; and World Bank President Jim Yong Kim. Other members of the task force include: UN Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator Helen Clark; UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Executive Director Anthony Lake; UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien; representatives of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies; and representatives of national health bodies in France, Japan, Mauritania, Singapore, UK and the US.

Ban established the Global Health Crises Task Force in response to recommendations from the 9 February 2016 report of his High-level Panel on the Global Response to Health Crises, ‘Protecting Humanity from Future Health Crises.’ The High-level Panel made 27 recommendations for national, regional and international action for the international community to respond proactively to health emergencies. The task force will help countries and communities prepare and respond to health emergencies such as the spread of Ebola and Zika viruses. Eliasson will co-chair the task force, supported by David Nabarro, the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Climate Change.

Announcing the appointment of Peter Salama, WHO noted that its Health Emergencies Programme aims to deliver rapid response and will strengthen its work across the whole cycle of prevention, preparedness, response and early recovery. Salama is a medical epidemiologist who currently serves as UNICEF Regional Director for Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and has previously been the UN Global Coordinator for Ebola. He will take up the post on 27 July 2016. [UN Press Release on Task Force] [Full List of Task Force Members] [WHO Press Release] [IISD RS Story on Follow up to High-Level Panel Report]