Introduction
10 Provision is made in the WHO programme budget for the regular convening of groups of experts to give advice to the Organization or to the Director-General on scientific and technical matters. It is the primarily advisory function of these groups (expert committees, their subcommittees, study groups, scientific groups and other scientific or technical committee-type meetings) which distinguishes them from meetings for the exchange of information among scientific workers (seminars, conferences, workshops, etc) which h are also organized by WHO.
20 The functions of an expert committee is to review and make recommendations on a subject of interest of the organization. The members are all drawn from the expert advisory panels. The Director-General consults neither the Chairman of the Board nor national administrations on their selections, but arranges that membership of each committee shall be as internationally representative as the subject permits. Membership of an expert committee lasts only for the duration of its meeting. Later meetings of expert committees on the same subject may or may not have some continuity of membership. Should an expert committee consider that a problem within its general sphere of interest requires particular attention, it may recommend the setting up of a subcommittee consisting of specialists in its own and in another technical field whose collaboration is considered necessary for the success of its work. Expert committees and subcommittees may also be established jointly by WHO and another specialized agency, to consider matters in which both organizations have an interest. The Regulations for Expert Advisory Panels and Committees, the text of which is adopted by resolution of the World Health Assembly, lay down in detail the purpose, composition and other requirements relating to the establishment and status of expert committees and subcommittees. The Rules of Procedure for Expert Committees and their Subcommittees are contained in an annex to those Regulations.
30 The functions and characteristics of study groups and scientific groups are set out in the Regulations for Study and Scientific Groups, Collaborating Institutions and other Mechanisms of Collaboration, which were adopted by the Executive Board in resolution EB69.R21.
Definitions
Expert Committee
40 Expert committees are the principal technical advisory bodies of the Organization on major questions of public health importance. Their legal framework is provided by the Regulations for Expert Advisory Panels and Committees, which is part of the WHO Basic Documents and has been approved by the World Health Assembly.
50 The Rules of Procedures for Expert Committees are contained in an annex to those regulations. Their functions are to review the latest knowledge and make technical recommendations on subjects of interest to the Organization. Their findings and recommendations are intended to assist national administrations and international health organizations in formulating their health policies and in establishing standards.
60 As a rule, meetings of expert committees shall be included in the WHO biennial programme budget (see section IX.2.3 paragraph 60). Their members must be drawn from one or more expert advisory panels (see section IX.1) and should adequately represent different trends of thought, approaches and practical experience in various parts of the world, as well as an appropriate interdisciplinary balance.
70 Publication of the reports of expert committees in the Technical Report Series is subject to the approval of the appropriate assistant director-general and a summary of the report must be submitted to the Executive Board at the earliest possible opportunity (see section IX.2.4).
Study Group
80 Study groups resemble expert committees in purpose and function but they are often concerned with a more limited aspect of a problem or a very specialized subject and are administratively simpler to organize than an expert committee. They are convened by the Director-General and are normally included in approved and appropriately funded work plans. Their members may be members of expert advisory panels or other experts.
90 Publication of the reports of study groups in the Technical Report Series is subject to the approval of the appropriate assistant director-general and a summary of the report must be submitted to the Executive Board at the earliest possible opportunity (see section IX.2.4).
100 Study groups provide flexibility and serve to supplement the more formal machinery of expert committees. They may also be convened in conjunction with another organization.
110 Regional directors may also convene study groups at the regional level (see section IX.2.1 paragraphs 30 - 50).
120 The characteristics of study groups are defined in the Regulations for Study and Scientific Groups, Collaborating Institutions and other Mechanisms of Collaboration (see Basic Documents).
Scientific Group
130 The functions of scientific groups are to review given fields of medical, health and health systems research, to assess the current state of knowledge in those fields, and to determine how that knowledge may best be extended.
140 Scientific groups play for research a role comparable to that of expert committees and study groups for the Organization's programme in general. Their members may be members of expert advisory panels or other experts. When a scientific group considers the existing state and requirements of research in a broad field, it should include one or more experts with wide experience in the organization of research.
150 Scientific groups are convened by the Director-General and are normally included in the approved and appropriately funded work plans.
160 Publication of the reports of scientific groups in the Technical Report Series is subject to the approval of the appropriate assistant director-general (see section IX.2.4). They may also be convened in conjunction with another organization.
170 Regional directors may convene scientific groups at the regional level (see section IX.2.1 paragraphs 30 - 50).
180 The characteristics of scientific groups are defined in the Regulations for Study and Scientific Groups, Collaborating Institutions and other Mechanisms of Collaboration (see Basic Documents).
Other scientific and technical committee-type meetings
190 Under this heading are included research coordination meetings, such as meetings of investigators and meetings of directors of WHO collaborating centres, as well as other meetings of the committee type that may be convened to discuss specific programme matters but do not conveniently fit into any of the three categories defined above.
200 These meetings are normally included in approved and appropriately funded workplans, but they may be convened ad hoc at short notice, with the approval of the Director-General (or of a regional director), if funds are available.
210 If a meeting of this kind produces a written report it is not submitted to the Executive Board. The responsible assistant director-general may authorize the publication of the report in the Technical Report Series if it is considered to be of sufficiently wide interest. The title of the published report of such a meeting is the subject of the meeting followed by "Report of a WHO Meeting".
