World Health Organization

At its thirteenth session, which was held in Geneva from January 12 to February 2, 1954, the Executive Board of the World Health Organization had some 80 items on its agenda. It examined a) reports on the work of expert and special committees concerned with such subjects as malaria, poliomyelitis, rabies, drugs liable to produce addiction, bioligical standardization, environmental sanitation, alcohol, public-health administration, rheumatic diseases, quarantine measures, and yellow fever; b) progress being made in a number of projects, such as a campaign against smallpox, the selection of international non-proprietary names for drugs, standardization of laboratory tests of foods, and a study on international medical law; and c) a variety of administrative and financial matters, including the Director-General's proposed program and budget estimates for 1955, the scale of assessments for member countries, and the revision of the staff rules proposed by the Director-General. Decisions taken by the Board included a recommendation that the seventh World Health Assembly request the Board at its fifteenth session to continue the study of program analysis and evaluation and report to the eighth Assembly, concurrence in certain transfers proposed by the Director-General between sections of the 1954 appropriation resolution of the sixth Assembly, and recommendations as to the procedure for considering the 1955 program and budget estimates at the seventh Assembly. Noting that the financial problems facing WHO in implementing the 1954 program arose because the known amount of technical assistance funds to be made available to the organization in 1954 fell substantially short of amounts expected and was inadequate to meet the minimum requirements, the Board authorized the Director-General to: continue all projects and activities then in operation, implement those projects not yet started where the government concerned had proceeded to the extent that funds spent or set aside would be lost if the project did not go forward or where the project was an essential element of a program planned in stages which had been agreed with WHO and the government concerned, defer starting new activities wherever possible, and report to the seventh Assembly on further developments.