The WHO Centre for Health Development (WHO Kobe Centre – WKC) has changed its website location to a new, simple web address: https://wkc.who.int/

We will no longer be updating the current website (https://extranet.who.int/kobe_centre/en), and no new content will be uploaded here. Visitors to this old site will still be able to see old content until the middle of December, after which it will be archived.

Please go to https://wkc.who.int/ to see all the new, improved features and see how easy it is to navigate the site. We hope you will visit us soon!

On 12 December, Universal Health Coverage (UHC) day, we at the WHO Centre for Health Development (WHO Kobe Centre - WKC) are encouraged by the renewed commitment of the global community to achieving UHC for all, arising from the United Nations Political Declaration on UHC in New York on 21 September 2023.

With the theme this year being “Health for All: Time for Action”, WKC affirms that UHC is central to achieving all of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).   

Health service coverage and financial protection are two key indicators that measure progress on UHC. WKC’s research on unmet needs, particularly of older populations, contributed to the 2023 WHO-World Bank Global Monitoring Report on UHC, and informed discussions at the United Nations High-Level Meeting on UHC in September 2023. 

Financing UHC is an investment, not a cost. Importantly, improving the quality of care for people with chronic conditions is key to reducing preventable deaths and advancing UHC. With rapid population ageing, changes are needed in how to pay for chronic care that provides incentives for quality. 

Our work on the WHO Flagship Project with partners at WHO Headquarters and the OECD on purchasing arrangements to strengthen quality care for chronic diseases explored whether different types of payment arrangements incentivised healthcare providers to provide better quality care for chronic conditions. 

While rigorous evaluations of effectiveness are still lacking, case studies in eight countries* found what facilitated the delivery of quality chronic care included health information systems and technology, strong leadership and multistakeholder engagement. Our evidence shows there should be a stronger focus on healthcare delivery models and how payments can support changes in service delivery mechanisms to improve quality.

This UHC Day, we join with millions around the world in urging leaders to make smarter investments in health to move the world closer to UHC by 2030 and deliver health for all. The consequences of underinvesting in UHC are unaffordable. 

*For more information, see the case studies on Australia, Canada, Chile, China, Germany, Indonesia, South Africa and Spain.

The 4th Annual Internal WHO Meeting of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Focal Points and the 5th Core Group of the WHO Thematic Platform for Health Emergency and Disaster Risk Management Research Network (Health EDRM RN) were held on 13 and 14 November 2023 in Kobe, Japan.

The DRR Focal Points from WHO all six Regional Offices, HQ DRR Unit and WHO Kobe Centre, shared overview of achievements in 2023 and discussed opportunities and priorities for 2024 to strengthen DRR activities in WHO offices and countries.

Following the successful DRR Focal Points meeting on 13th November, WKC hosted the 5th Core Group Meeting of the WHO Health EDRM RN as its Secretariat on 14th November. Co-chaired by Professor Virginia Murray and Professor Jonathan Abrahams, the WHO DRR Focal Points and Japanese experts participated in this meeting and discussed strategic direction of Health EDRM RN to further foster international research collaboration for advancing Health EDRM research activities.

Meeting summary report for the Core Group Meeting will be available soon.

The WHO Centre for Health Development (WHO Kobe Centre – WKC) hosted the 27th annual meeting of the Advisory Committee (ACWKC) at its offices in Kobe, Japan for the first time since the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020. The meeting took place on 15 – 16 November 2023.

The ACWKC is appointed by the WHO Director-General (DG) to represent WHO’s six regions, the host country, local community, and donor group.1 It advises the DG and WKC’s Director on strategic priorities, gives guidance on strengthening research programmes and local engagement, and makes recommendations for the way forward.

WKC’s Director, Dr Sarah Barber, welcomed a new member this year, Dr Felipe Cruz Vega, head of coordination of special projects in health of the Mexican Social Security Institute, who represents the WHO Region of the Americas.

The Chair of the ACWKC, Dr Viroj Tangcharoensathien, Senior Advisor, International Health Policy Programme of the Ministry of Public Health in Thailand, said that WKC’s three research portfolios of service delivery and financing, metrics and measurement, and health emergencies and disaster risk management (Health-EDRM) were globally relevant and synchronised with global health policy directions.

The Centre has been driving research on unmet healthcare needs. This key area for achieving universal health coverage (UHC) has generated evidence on financing policy choices for healthy population ageing and long-term care, which were “innovative and ahead of the curve”.  This work directly addresses the World Health Assembly Resolution WHA76.42 which, among others, requested the DG to review the importance and feasibility of using unmet healthcare need as an additional indicator for monitoring UHC. 

The Health EDRM guidance, through global engagement of expertise and capacity building, directly contributes to the implementation of Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. WKC’s work has supported the implementation of Health EDRM in Member States.

WKC’s work responds to global policy priorities and local needs. The ACWKC were impressed with collaborations between the Centre and researchers in the Kansai region, such as the multi-year Kobe Dementia Study which supported the development of a Kobe City Ordinance on being a Dementia-Friendly City. This research informed specific elements of the Ordinance, especially screening, early detection, and reducing dementia progression.

The ACWKC concluded with recommendations for WKC’s continued contributions to global health and the local Kansai community. The meeting report will be released shortly.

1. Hyogo Prefecture, Kobe City, Kobe Steel, Ltd., and the Kobe Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
2. https://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/WHA76/A76_R4-en.pdf

The WHO Centre for Health Development (WHO Kobe Center – WKC) will jointly conduct a research project with the Japan Agency for Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES) and Kobe City on the effects of behavioral changes during the pandemic on the health among the residents of Kobe, Japan. During the early stages of the pandemic, many people did not get the healthcare they needed because of fear of COVID-19 infection, imposed restrictions on movement, or unaffordability of care. In Japan, studies have shown that it was common for older people to adopt unhealthy lifestyles during the pandemic related to their diet, physical activity or social activity, thereby increasing their risks for poor health outcomes.

In this project, Kobe City’s administrative data on medical care, long-term care and public health services use and population health survey data will be analyzed, including data from a survey conducted in October-December 2023.
The findings of this research will inform policy recommendations to Kobe City for addressing the health risks to its citizens, with implications for other settings.

Please refer to the project page for more details.

Press releases about this project were issued to the Japanese media by WKC, JAGES and Kobe City.

Photo credit: WHO / Until Chan