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REGIONAL DIRECTOR’S NEW YEAR MESSAGE TO
SEAR STAFF
The end of the
year has always been a time to look back, as well as to look forward. A time
to see what we have accomplished, and to prepare ourselves to meet the
challenges ahead.
So, as we look
back, we can see that our collaboration with countries in the Region was
further strengthened in areas of priority concern and interest. This is a
cause for satisfaction, particularly when one considers WHO’s
technical support and response during health emergencies that many Member
States faced during 2006. As always, we are trying to learn from past
experience to be better prepared and to further improve our collaboration to
strengthen national health systems to effectively cope with such situations.
Poised as we are
between the end of one year and the beginning of another, it also provides a
good opportunity to review the progress towards achieving the planned
targets, especially those set under the Millennium Development Goals. We have
made good progress in some areas, much more needs to
be done in the others, however.
While we are on
the verge of achieving the leprosy elimination goal and good progress has
been made with regard to eradication of yaws, our Region still accounts for
unacceptably high levels of morbidity and mortality from other communicable
diseases. The recent increase in polio cases in some countries is a cause for
grave concern. We have to double our efforts to meet the expectations of the
Member States in these formidable challenges.
As the WHO
Director-General designate, Dr Margaret Chan says, “Our work must touch on the
lives of everyone, everywhere. But we must focus our attention on the people
in greatest need.”
In order to
effectively address present and future challenges, WHO is making concerted
efforts to mobilize the human as well as financial resources to support its
collaborative programmes. I am confident that with the active cooperation from our
development partners and the Member States themselves, we will be able to
move forward more effectively in our constitutional mission.
I have always
maintained that WHO’s biggest asset is its staff which enables it to carry
out meaningful collaborative activities with its Member States. In this
context, I would like to thank all staff members for their dedication and
devotion to duty and look forward to their continued support towards
achieving the goal of a healthier and happier Region.
I would also like
to take this opportunity of wishing you and all your family members the best
of health, happiness, peace and prosperity in the coming year.
Dr Samlee
Plianbangchang
Regional Director
END-OF-YEAR MESSAGE TO ALL STAFF FROM THE
ACTING DIRECTOR-GENERAL
It has been an
emotional year. The announcement of the Director-General's death at the World
Health Assembly, followed by the visible shock in the faces of all those
present, will remain with me for the rest of my life. What struck me at that
moment was the magnitude of the shared sense of loss we all felt when a
leader, so committed to the health of others, was suddenly taken from us.
Another strong
feeling, but different in nature, came over me when Kofi
Annan met with WHO staff in June. The collective
calm and relatively sedate nature of staff seen on a normal day, disappeared
within seconds of the Secretary General's arrival. It was like a rock
concert. The main hall was packed and staff were
hanging over the balconies. The noise was thunderous with applause, whistles
and hollers. I was stunned, touched and awed by the welcome staff were giving
this venerable leader.
It is our sense of
commitment, dedication and knowledge in each other's drive to make the world
a better place that unites us. No matter what happens in our busy days, the
challenges we may face, or the frustration we experience more frequently than
we like, I will be forever grateful for knowing that at our core is a true
sense of humanity that comes through in the darkest of times, and in the best
of times. This I believe, is not what makes us good, but great as an
Organization.
Put simply, we
care. The collective emotion in our celebration of achievements and our
acknowledgement of each other's hard work and dedication demonstrate this.
Whether it is through evidence that helps us promote artemisinin
combinations therapy to fight malaria, or the fact that we have verified over
1100 disease outbreaks since 2001 and operate an around-the-clock alert and
response system that coordinates international action and assistance, the
complexity and breadth of what we do affects the well-being of every person
on this planet.
It is an enormous
task, and an enormous responsibility for which we are well suited. I have
seen its evidence in the strong engagement I witnessed between Member States and staff at all of the
regional committee sessions I had the privilege to attend. I have seen it in
your intelligence, your professionalism, your experience, and this year, I
have seen it in your sense of humanity and integrity. This is what I will
take with me and hope you do as well. There is no other one thing for which a
leader, even a temporary one, could be more grateful.
So, I would like
to thank you for your commitment and hard work, the unsung heroes of health.
The world may never know your face, but it will benefit from your work - from
the lives of individuals today to the future lives of their children
tomorrow. You will never be adequately recognized for the sacrifices you make
and the small miracles you produce, and this is my one regret.
It has been a
pleasure representing you in these last seven months, and I could not have
done it without knowing you were continuing in the never-ending quest to
combat the multitude of health challenges. It is a formidable feeling to be
well-armed with such a breadth of knowledge behind you.
I would like to
extend my warmest wishes to you and your loved ones in the coming New Year
and I look forward to continuing our work together. The next Director-General
will find, as I did, how fortunate she is to represent and work with you.
Dr Anders Nordström
Acting Director-General
CHRISTMAS LETTER 2006
We just came back
from one of Berlin’s
many colourful Christmas fairs. It is not merely
the shopping that gives excitement. It is rather the looking, the smelling
and, of course, also the tasting of so many delights that are offered in the
name of Jesus Christ (but mostly without that). Although this year´s winter seems to have missed the train (due to
December temperatures not recorded for centuries we still have blossoming
flowers in the garden), the temperatures are still cool enough for enjoying a
well spiced red wine punch.
At home we, i.e.
my dear wife Elke and I, share the pleasure or
burden of decorating the house for Christmas. It was not too difficult to
find all the ingredients required for such undertaking. The trouble starts
when one realizes that last year, the lamps in the green plastic garlands
still blinked. This year they don´t. Now try to
find the defect!
But anyway, we are
looking forward to enjoying a nice Christmas season. We will have a special
highlight when, on 23 December, we will sit in a church and be fascinated by
the voices of the choir “Ars Musica”.
And we will be proud that our son is one of the singers.
The “Silent Night,
Holy Night” and company make us painfully aware that another year is coming
to an end, and with that also a year of our own personal lives. To some
people this causes a crisis. Not to us. After all, we still feel relatively
fit and healthy, despite the fact that during the past months, we needed to
consult a few doctors of various specialities. I
hope the use of the sauna in the basement of our house will protect us from
major ailments. This will definitely be better than relying on the German
health system that is in the process of undergoing fiercely disputed reforms
that are aimed at making sure that health services would still be affordable
in future. Perhaps our politicians should listen to international experience
and to good advice given by WHO.
Well, Christmas is
coming, and we are determined to give it the room it deserves in our routine
lives. Many people are disturbed by the thought of desperately searching for
presents and perhaps even more by the thought of getting presents that they don´t like at all. We look at that in a relaxed way and
will not take refuge in buying neckties and socks any more. We were lucky
finding a cross-trainer for a very reasonable price. This and a bicycle home
trainer decorate a room in our basement. Did I say “decorate”? They are, of
course, used but mainly by my wife Elke. I still
need to overcome certain mental barriers. I hate sweating. Riding a real
bicycle is a different and more enjoyable experience, and that is why we
bought such equipment a few months ago. I like this kind of exercise in the
open. I cannot ignore that fact that from time to time, I hear some cracking
in my knees and a few other joints but luckily our daughter is on her way to
become an orthopaedic surgeon. True, she lives and
works, as before, in Scotland
but that should not be a hindrance. The competition of easy-Jet and other
low-cost airlines makes it possible.
I am now almost
completing two years of retired life. Some may find such life boring. So far,
I have not experienced any problem. From the beginning, I tried to follow
advices given by the former Director, Mental Health at WHO/HQ, Prof. Norman Sartorius, who produced very useful guidance on that
subject. In fact, everybody about to retire should have access to it and
benefit from it.
Recently, a
well-known German journalist and TV announcer who retired a few months ago
was asked how he feels about it and whether it was difficult to adjust to the
new lifestyle. He answered that, for the time being he feels like being on
prolonged annual leave. Although my “leave” has already been a little longer
I can somehow share this feeling. This is partly thanks to the fact that in
early 2006, HQ gave me a chance to be involved in an analysis of methods for
the evaluation of WHO performance at country level (my thanks go to Dr Samlee for supporting my candidature for this job). It
was great to once more be part of the big family, to meet and work with old friends.
After all, nearly 19 years of association with WHO leaves its mark.
Assessing the
tools for evaluating the effectiveness of what WHO people do in the countries
turned out to be a pretty difficult job, and it was interesting to see how
other organizations approached this important issue. Perhaps my findings can
help improve the present system through learning from others (after all, WHO
is a “learning organization”). As a side-effect this job also gave me an
opportunity to have a critical look at my own performance during my active
WHO life. And in retrospect one realizes that certain things could have been
done better. In this context I remember the wisdom of my old friend, Dr J.P.
Gupta from Delhi who, long ago managed our PHC
programme in Myanmar. When we met years later and recalled discussions and even heated
disputes, which we sometimes had on various subjects he smiled and said:
“Well, that is life. We were victims of circumstances.”
Now our personal
circumstances have changed. When we have stress or trouble, it is either
because of matters related to our house and the German “quality work”
performed during its construction, or to the understanding and not too seldom the misunderstanding between German
authorities and their citizens, which took us some time to get used to.
Having fully settled in our present environment, we also think of travelling and looking around. Duty trips are not on the
agenda any more, so we can travel without a TA and without worrying whether
or not I still have “leave entitlement.” This year, various leisure trips
have already enabled us to discover parts of Germany and neighbouring
countries that we never saw in the past. Now we also plan to again tackle
longer distances. South-East Asia should be
a destination in the foreseeable future. But even without travelling
we enjoy being in contact with many old friends in various parts of our
globe. Internet makes it so easy to communicate. WHO websites are frequently
contacted and I also follow the developments in my former countries of
assignment.
We hope that the
New Year that is knocking on our doors will offer a chance for lasting peace
and development without which it will be extremely difficult to achieve the
ambitious goals that WHO and its Member countries have set. I would like to
take this opportunity to wish all our friends and former colleagues a happy
Christmas season as well as a healthy, successful and prosperous New Year
2007.
With warm regards,
(Dr Klaus Wagner, former WR
Myanmar)
SEASON’S GREETINGS
Christmas and New
Year greetings this week have been received from Dr V.P. Monakhov,
Russia, Mr D.D. Maini, USA
and Dr and Mrs S.N. Mukherjee,
India.
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