The World Health Organization (WHO) has convened the first-ever Global Forum of its Collaborating Centres, bringing together more than 800 designated institutions across over 80 countries to strengthen global scientific cooperation in public health. The forum highlighted growing global health challenges in an increasingly fragmented world, while also emphasizing new opportunities for collaboration and innovation. It concluded with a renewed commitment to move beyond isolated scientific projects toward more integrated and dynamic partnerships that better translate research into real-world health solutions.
Established as part of WHO’s core mandate since 1949, the Collaborating Centres network has grown into a major global scientific resource, connecting leading academic, research, and technical institutions. Over the past several decades, it has played a key role in strengthening WHO’s norms and standards, advancing research, and supporting capacity building worldwide, helping convert scientific knowledge into practical health interventions.
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described the network as an underused but powerful asset for global health, bringing together top institutions to support countries, strengthen health systems, and promote evidence-based action. WHO Chief Scientist Dr Sylvie Briand also emphasized that scientific collaboration is essential to addressing today’s and future health challenges, particularly in a time of increasing global risks.
The forum also aligned with broader initiatives such as the One Health approach and WHO’s World Health Day 2026 campaign theme “Together for health. Stand with science.” A key development discussed was the creation of Collaborative Open Research Consortia (CORC), which will unite global researchers to accelerate the development of vaccines, diagnostics, and treatments for future pandemic threats, including Disease X.
Participants stressed that stronger international cooperation is critical, especially amid declining global health funding, to prevent local outbreaks from escalating into global crises. WHO announced that the next Global Forum will take place in 2027 to continue strengthening this global scientific collaboration platform.
