THE World Health Organization (WHO) has recognised a University of York research centre for its outstanding commitment to promoting universal access to health.

York’s Department of History’s Centre for Global Health Histories will continue as a WHO Collaborating Centre for a further four years until 2021, it has been confirmed.

Since 2013 the centre, which is funded by the Wellcome Trust, has worked with the WHO on a workplan to expand its international seminar series at the WHO’s headquarters and regional offices around the world.

It has also produced five evidence-based multi-lingual policy and public engagement publications on tuberculosis, tropical diseases, universal health coverage, leprosy, and mental health.

Professor Lawrence Black, head of York’s Department of History, said: “This is fantastic news for the department and the university. It is also testimony to the international repute and intellectual dynamism of all the historians working in the Centre for Global Health Histories.”

The director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Global Health Histories, Professor Sanjoy Bhattacharya, said: “We have greatly enjoyed collaborating with colleagues at the WHO Regional Office for Europe in Copenhagen and the WHO Headquarters in Geneva, and are very grateful for the generous support received from across the WHO.

“We are also delighted with the shared view that the achievements and successes of the first four years have paved the way for WHO Collaborating Centre renewal and a further four years of joint action.

“We, at the University of York, remain deeply committed to assisting in the promotion of universal access to health, and especially efforts to serve those most in need.”

Collaborating Centre status is awarded to selected centres and institutions which are established WHO collaborators and have a proven track record in assisting the WHO to implement its work and achieve its goals.

Benefits for the university of hosting a centre include increased visibility and recognition by national authorities and greater public attention.