IARC Director and Director-Elect meet with WHO Director-General and French Minister of Solidarity and Health

The Director, Dr Christopher P. Wild, and the Director-Elect, Dr Elisabete Weiderpass, of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) met with the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and the French Minister of Solidarity and Health, Dr Agnès Buzyn, in Lyon today. The meeting was a rare opportunity for such high-level representatives from IARC, WHO, and the government of France to discuss important issues of common interest. IARC has enjoyed a long relationship with France, its host country and one of its founding Participating States.

The meeting took place during the WHO High-Level Meeting on Preparedness for Public Health Emergencies: Challenges and Opportunities in Urban Areas, which was organized by the WHO Lyon Office with support from the government of France. The meeting was held near Lyon’s Biodistrict, where the WHO Lyon Office is located and to which IARC will relocate after the construction of its new headquarters building.

The aim of the WHO High-Level Meeting was to provide a forum for ministers of health, leaders of urban areas (mayors, governors, and boards of health), United Nations organizations, and other stakeholders in the health sector and beyond to share experiences on multisectoral approaches for effective leadership in preparedness for outbreaks of infectious diseases and public health emergencies in urban areas.

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Read more about the new IARC headquarters building project