The UTS School of Communication has been designated a World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre.
The UTS School of Communication is the first WHO Collaborating Centre appointed to support the Communication for Health in the western Pacific region. Photo by eternalcreative via iStock.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has designated the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) School of Communication as a WHO Collaborating Centre for Evaluation of Communication.
The UTS School of Communication is the first WHO Collaborating Centre appointed to support the Communication for Health (C4H) program of the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office (WPRO) and the first in the world appointed to advise the WHO on evaluation of communication.
“This is a humbling and exciting opportunity for FASS’s School of Communication. I am continually proud of our expert academics working with WHO to develop informed communication evaluation strategies that will improve health outcomes for people everywhere, starting with the Western Pacific Region,” said Professor Alan Davison, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.
In support of the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office in Manila and WHO International headquarters in Geneva, the UTS School of Communication will:
- Contribute to building the capacity of WHO staff and Member States to implement effective communication for health (C4H), such as through training materials, presentations to conferences, and workshops;
- Contribute to building the evidence base for C4H from research literature;
- Provide technical advice and assistance to WHO and Member States on effective measurement, evaluation and learning (MEL) of health communication.
WHO Collaborating Centres
WHO collaborating centres are institutions such as research institutes or parts of universities or academies that are designated by the Director-General of the WHO to carry out activities in support of the WHO’s programmes. Currently there are over 800 WHO collaborating centres in more than 80 member states working with WHO in clinical and technical areas such as nursing, occupational health, communicable diseases, nutrition, mental health, chronic diseases, and health technologies.
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Communicating for Health Impact Program(C4H)
WHO Collaborating Centres provide honorary support to the WHO in the form of technical, diagnostic, and therapeutic advice, training, and input to WHO resources and materials.
UTS and WHO
UTS already hosts the WHO Collaborating Centre for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Development in the Faculty of Health, led by Michele Rumsey, FACN.
Designation of the UTS School of Communication as a WHO Collaborating Centre follows almost three years of research by a UTS team led by Distinguished Professor Jim Macnamara and Professor Maureen Taylor to evaluate WHO’s communication globally in relation to COVID-19 and Global Health Days and inform communication strategy.
Distinguished Professor Jim Macnamara has been nominated as Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Evaluation of Communication. He is recognised as a world leader in research-based evaluation of public communication programs.
In addition to honorary advice and support provided to the WHO as a Collaborating Centre, the UTS research team continues to provide contract research for measurement, evaluation, and learning (MEL) in relation to WHO communication globally, reporting to the WHO headquarters in Geneva.