Slovenia to donate EUR 400,000 for special WHO European office
Ljubljana, 20 December - Slovenia will contribute EUR 100,000 on an annual level to the European Office for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in the 2024-2027 period, the government has announced.
Geneva, Switzerland
The seat of the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Photo: Xinhua/STA
The office, which supports the 53 member states of the European region of the WHO in the effort to control non-communicable diseases, was established in Moscow in 2014. In May this year the decision was made to move the office to Copenhagen.
The funding from Russia was withdrawn, creating an annual deficit of approximately EUR 5 million, while the cost of moving the office to Denmark was estimated at EUR 500,000.
The Slovenian government will now donate funds to the establishment and operation of the office and to the expansion of activities that had so far been underfunded, the government said after a session of government committees on Tuesday.
The government also took note of the plan for a 2024-2025 cooperation agreement to be signed between the Health Ministry and the WHO Regional Office for Europe.
The agreement, to be signed by Health Minister Valentina Prevolnik Rupel and WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge, does not entail any financial obligations, the government said.
The tasks will be carried out "in kind", meaning that part of the membership fee paid by Slovenia as a mandatory contribution to the WHO is reimbursed in the form of professional assistance provided by the WHO in priority healthcare areas, it added.