Chemicals Road Map

Overview

In May 2017, the Seventieth World Health Assembly (WHA) approved the Road map to enhance health sector engagement in the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management towards the 2020 goal and beyond (the road map).

The WHO Secretariat was requested to prepare the road map by WHA resolution 69.4 (2016) The role of the health sector in the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management towards the 2020 goal and beyond. The road map identifies concrete actions where the health sector has either a lead or important supporting role to play in the sound management of chemicals, recognizing the need for multi-sectoral cooperation. The actions are organised into four areas: risk reduction; knowledge and evidence; institutional capacity; and, leadership and coordination. Because these areas are interlinked, there are many actions that could have been placed in a number of different places within the road map. To avoid repetition, each action has been included only once. For each action, the main actor, or lead, within the health sector has been identified.

While it is recognized that, in many cases, success depends on cooperation between a variety of stakeholders and sectors, the identification of a lead within the health sector, where possible, is intended to be helpful and to facilitate progress. Member States have been identified as the lead in cases where governments, and in particular ministries with responsibilities for human health, would bear most of the responsibility for the action. Similarly, the WHO Secretariat has been identified as the lead in cases where the Secretariat would bear most of the responsibility for the action. In other cases, it is recognized that the entire health sector – including Member States, the Secretariat and others, including other bodies of the United Nations system and nonState actors – needs to play a leadership role. As individual Member States and other stakeholders have different priorities, based on their specific contexts, the actions are not presented in priority order. Furthermore, some of the actions are very broad, while others are quite specific.

This variation is intentional and recognizes that Member States and other stakeholders have chosen different approaches to chemicals management and are at different stages of implementation. The inclusion of broader actions makes it possible for countries to tailor the implementation of the road map to their own context. It is hoped that the road map will be a useful tool to assist Member States and other health sector stakeholders in identifying areas of primary focus for engagement and additional actions relevant for chemicals management at the national, regional and international levels. It is envisaged that the various components of the health sector will define their own implementation plans for this road map, which will take into account the need to engage and cooperate with others as appropriate.

The timeline of the road map is towards the 2020 goal and beyond. Progress reports on the implementation of the road map will be made to the 72nd and 74th World Health Assemblies (2019 and 2021 respectively). As well, the road map will be updated according to the outcome of the intersessional process to prepare recommendations regarding the Strategic Approach and the sound management of chemicals and waste beyond 2020.