Ethical governance is central to accountability, strategic planning, and effective health programmes, but many aspects of global health present challenges in oversight. Particular areas of concern are the ethical oversight of health research and innovative technologies.

WHO responds to the needs of diverse Member States by developing global standards and mechanisms for governance and oversight for emerging areas of concern where normative guidance may be lacking.

The WHO Health Ethics & Governance Unit’s work in this area has focused on governance and oversight of human genome editing, guidance for the ethical conduct of human challenge studies, indicators for research ethics oversight, and continued management of WHO’s ethical review process for health-related research.