Health ministers and senior officials from 37 countries and areas in the World Health Organization (WHO) Western Pacific Region have come together in Manila to discuss and adopt action plans on health issues that affect nearly 1.9 billion people.
Members of the WHO Regional Committee for the Western Pacific will also nominate a new Regional Director tomorrow. Four Member States put forth candidates: Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand and the Philippines.
In addition to the nomination, the Regional Committee will decide on a variety of priority health issues, including:
- fighting neglected tropical diseases;
- strengthening rehabilitation services;
- improving hospital planning and management;
- harnessing e-health for improved service delivery; and
- strengthening legal frameworks for health in the Sustainable Development Goals.
The Regional Committee will also discuss progress reports on health security, infectious and noncommunicable diseases, and environmental health.
Reflecting on his tenure, current Regional Director Dr Shin Young-soo said, “The last decade has been one of progress towards better health in the Region.” He credited the Region’s growing commitment to universal health coverage, in particular, with helping to improve quality and access to health services.
“We’ve taken some huge strides forward in the battle against infectious diseases. Noncommunicable diseases remain a major challenge, but countries in this Region are leading the world in action to address risk factors like tobacco,” added Shin, who has been Regional Director since 2009.
Despite being the most disaster-prone Region in the world, Shin said Western Pacific Member States “are better prepared than ever to face the next typhoon or outbreak… or whatever health challenges the future holds.”
“The issues you are discussing this week are all essential for building strong health systems and achieving universal health coverage,” said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in his address to the Regional Committee, “WHO’s role is to support every country with constructive policy dialogue, world-class normative guidance, and astute technical know-how to translate commitment into plans, plans into actions, and actions into results.”
Sir Puka Temu, Minister for Health and HIV, Papua New Guinea, was elected Chair of this year’s session of the Regional Committee. “I’m grateful for the confidence of my colleagues in electing me as Chair of this important meeting. I very much look forward to our discussions on a range of important and complex issues before us this week.”
Dr Lam Pin Min, Singapore’s Senior Minister of State for Health, was elected Vice Chair.
In its annual session, the Regional Committee sets policies and reviews WHO’s work over the previous year.
Media must register for accreditation to attend the Regional Committee by contacting Ruel Serrano or Teena Deogracias-Nery.
More on the sixty-ninth session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Western Pacific: http://www.who.int/westernpacific/about/governance/regional-committee/session-69
More on the candidates and nomination of the next WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific: http://www.who.int/westernpacific/about/governance/regional-committee/nomination-of-the-regional-director
The Regional Committee is streamed live on the WHO website www.who.int/westernpacific and updates are being posted on the @WHOWPRO Facebook and Twitter accounts with the hashtag #RCM69.
Working with 194 Member States across six regions, WHO is the United Nations agency responsible for public health. Each WHO region has its own regional committee, composed of ministers of health and senior officials from Member States, who meet annually.
The 37 countries and areas of the WHO Western Pacific Region are: American Samoa (USA), Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia (France), Guam (USA), Hong Kong SAR (China), Japan, Kiribati, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Macao SAR (China), Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Mongolia, Nauru, New Caledonia (France), New Zealand, Niue, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (USA), Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Pitcairn Islands (UK), Republic of Korea, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Viet Nam, and Wallis and Futuna (France).