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SEA/RC59/R1 RESOLUTION OF THANKS
The Regional Committee,
Having brought its fifty-ninth session to a successful
conclusion,
1. THANKS
Her Excellency Begum Khaleda Zia,
Prime Minister of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh for graciously
inaugurating the session and for her thought-provoking speech;
2. THANKS
the Acting Director-General, WHO, Dr Anders Nordström,
for his inspiring address and participation;
3. CONVEYS
its gratitude to the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh for
hosting the session, and thanks the members of the National Organizing
Committee and other national authorities for making the session a success,
and
4. CONGRATULATES
the Regional Director and his staff on their efforts towards the successful
conclusion of the session.
 SEA/RC59/R2 REGIONAL PROGRAMME BUDGET 2008-2009
The Regional Committee,
Having considered the regional Programme Budget for
2008-2009, which follows a significantly different approach as compared to
previous bienniums and which is based on the
six-year Medium-term Strategic Plan (MTSP), the regional Programme Budget
statements containing strategic objectives; scope; regional indicators and
targets, regional issues and challenges; strategic approach of the region and
proposed resource requirement, and noting the report of the 43rd Meeting of
the Consultative Committee for Programme Development and Management [CCPDM]
(Document SEA/ PDM/Meet.43/11),
Welcoming the strong emphasis and focus on Organization-wide
results-based, integrated budgeting, as well as the proposals for addressing
the global public health challenges and strengthening WHO's country programmes,
Noting with appreciation the Director-General's proposal
to increase the overall level of the budget by 17.2% which includes 8.6%
increase in the Regular Budget, as compared to the previous biennium,
Acknowledging the decision WHA57(10), requesting the
Director-General to draw up, in consultation with Member States and regions,
guiding principles, based on objective criteria, to be applied in the
allocation of funds from all sources, taking into account equity, efficiency
and performance, and support to countries in greatest need, particularly the
least developed countries, and
Welcoming the proposed increase in the Regular Budget and
Voluntary Contributions, and moreover, deeply concerned that the present
share of the budget from such resources to the South-East Asia Region is not
commensurate with its health needs and the burden of disease,
1. AUTHORIZES the establishment of a Working
Group with representatives from all Member States in the Region to review the
regional Programme Budget 2008-2009 with a mandate to endorse it on behalf of
the Regional Committee;
2. URGES
Member States:
a) to accelerate national priority programme
implementation consistent with the target and indicators in the regional
Programme Budget 2008-2009.
b) to
work closely with the Secretariat to formulate workplans
for the 2008-2009 biennium in a spirit of joint planning with ownership of
all stakeholders, and
3. REQUESTS
the Regional Director to take up with the WHO Director-General, the following
for his consideration, while finalizing the regional Programme Budget for
2008-2009:
a) to allocate a greater proportion of the
Organization’s funds to the South-East Asia Region, based on the health needs
and population size of countries of the Region;
b) to
take actions at the headquarters level for enhancing resource mobilization in
order to ensure that the allocations for the proposed planned figures in the
SEA Region for Voluntary Contributions are eventually met, and
c) to
make all efforts that the Voluntary Contributions received are mostly
unspecified funds so that they could be used for areas for which such
contributions are normally not received, and
4. REQUESTS
the Regional Director to enhance resource mobilization activities in the
Region to ensure that the requirement of Voluntary Contributions to implement
the regional Programme Budget 2008-2009 is met.
SEA/RC59/R3 PROMOTING PATIENT SAFETY IN HEALTH CARE
The Regional Committee,
Recalling World Health Assembly resolution WHA55.18
relating to “Quality of care: Patient safety”,
Noting with concern the high human and financial toll of
adverse events in both developed and developing nations,
Conceding that the problem is likely to be even greater in
developing nations,
Recognizing that most of the harm to patients is due to
failures in the design, organization and operation of systems,
Acknowledging that a large proportion of adverse events
are therefore preventable,
Noting with concern the potential problems in the Region
because of the vicious cycle of adverse events and malpractices, law suits
and medical liability insurance, the practice of defensive medicines and the
rising costs of health care,
Aware that no single stakeholder has the expertise or
delivery capabilities to adequately tackle the full range of patient safety
issues, and
Having considered the report and recommendations of the
Technical Discussions on Promoting Patient Safety at Health Care Institutions
in South-East Asia during the Forty-third
Meeting of the Consultative Committee for Programme Development and
Management,
1. ENDORSES the recommendations contained in the
report (SEA/RC59/11 (Rev.1) and SEA/RC59/Inf.4);
2. URGES
Member States:
a) to assess the scope and nature of adverse
events in health care institutions as well as the contributing factors;
b) to
establish or improve, with the involvement of all stakeholders, systems for
the detection and reporting of adverse events with a primary focus on
improving systems;
c) to
develop national mechanisms to capture, share, respond, and learn from this
information at all levels of the health system;
d) to
promote interventions that have been shown to improve patient safety;
e) to
support and enable health care institutions, both public and private, from
the primary health care level through the referral level, to implement
systems changes and practices conducive to patient safety;
f) to create, at all levels of the health care
system, through awareness raising and enabling policies and legislation, an
open environment receptive to the operational changes needed to deliver safer
care in health care institutions;
g) to
engage patients, consumer associations, health care workers, and professional
associations, hospital associations, health care accreditation bodies and
policy makers, in building safer health care systems, and creating a culture
of safety within health care institutions;
h) to
establish systems that respect the rights of both patients and providers, and
i) to allocate adequate resources to implement
the above activities, and
3. REQUESTS
the Regional Director:
a) to coordinate, through an inclusive
consultative process, the development of a strategic framework and package of
interventions for strengthening patient safety which builds on successful
interventions and actions in the Region and worldwide;
b) to
provide strong technical leadership and support to Member States in designing
and implementing patient safety interventions and monitoring systems;
c) to
ensure capacity building in different aspects of patient safety through
training activities at the regional, subregional,
and country levels;
d) to
facilitate collaboration and the exchange of information and best practices
between Member States and the World Alliance on
Patient Safety;
e) to
coordinate and facilitate research on patient safety in the Region, including
baseline surveys on adverse events, and operational research to assess the
cost effectiveness of interventions;
f) to contribute to the development of a
patient-safety taxonomy, systems for reporting and learning from adverse events,
and best practices to improve patient safety, and
g) to monitor and report on progress in this area in the
Region.
SEA/RC59/R4 REGIONAL STRATEGY FOR HEALTH PROMOTION
The Regional Committee,
Recalling World Health Assembly and Executive Board
resolutions WHA57.16 and EB117.R9 respectively, and its own resolutions
SEA/RC32/R6 and SEA/RC40/R3, as well as the outcomes of the five
international conferences on health promotion, all of which called for
strengthening of health promotion through policies, strategies, legislation,
partnership and allocation of resources, and by engaging communities,
Noting with satisfaction the active involvement of Member
States of the Region during the Sixth Global Conference on Health Promotion
held in Bangkok in August 2005, and having considered the follow-up on policy
actions and commitments agreed to in the Bangkok Charter for Health Promotion
in a Globalized World, and
Confirming the priority need to address social and other
determinants of health and the major common risk factors associated with
preventable causes of premature death and illness due to communicable and noncommunicable diseases among the people of the Region
through health promotion,
1. URGES Member States:
a) to consider health promotion as a core
responsibility, central to the national and global development agendas;
recognize the need for increasing investments in health promotion; establish
mechanisms for concerted efforts and foster active engagement of civil
society, professional bodies, the private sector and nongovernmental
organizations;
b) to
strengthen capability for planning, coordination, management and
implementation of comprehensive and multisectoral
health promotion policies and programmes and to
document evidence of effective health promotion interventions at national and
local levels, in order to facilitate development of effective policies, and
c) to
adopt alternative, innovative and sustainable sources of financing for health
promotion activities, with a firm institutional base for management, and
2. REQUESTS
the Regional Director:
a) to strengthen the capacity for health
promotion across the Organization in the Region to provide better support to
Member States;
b) to
facilitate the establishment of innovative and sustainable financing
mechanisms with a firm institutional base for systematic and effective health
promotion efforts;
c) to
support Member States with adequate human and financial resources to build
capacity for developing policies, programmes, plans
of action, guidelines and documentation of evidence, and
d) to report on the progress of the implementation of the
Regional Strategy to the sixty-first session of the Regional Committee in
2008.
SEA/RC59/R5 REGIONAL INITIATIVES FOR ERADICATION/ ELIMINATION OF
TROPICAL DISEASES
The Regional Committee,
Recalling World Health Assembly resolutions WHA44.9 and
WHA50.29 pertaining to elimination of leprosy and lymphatic filariasis, and Executive Board resolution EB118.R3 on
control of leishmaniasis,
Appreciating the initiatives taken by the Regional
Director in according high priority to eradition/elimination
of tropical diseases, namely leprosy, kala-azar,
lymphatic filariasis, and yaws,
Recognizing that these diseases are significant health
problems in the Region and are poverty-related, affecting the poorest of the
poor, and the most vulnerable and marginalized populations, often living in
remote, hard-to-reach areas,
Further recognizing that these diseases are globally considered as “neglected 1 ” in view of the low priority to
research and develop essential health technologies to address these diseases,
Noting that these diseases can cause disability and death,
leading to social and economic consequences, and that their
eradication/elimination has certain social and moral imperatives linked to
alleviating the suffering of the poor and vulnerable groups, and
Noting further that some of these diseases such as
leprosy, yaws and lymphatic filariasis, etc. are
amenable to eradication/elimination in view of the availability of safe,
simple and cost-effective interventions,
1. URGES concerned Member States:
a) to continue to accord high priority to these
diseases and include them in their national development plans and allocate
appropriate budgetary support;
b) to
advocate with development partners and nongovernmental organizations to
support intensification of efforts towards eradication/elimination of these
diseases;
c) to
intensify appropriate action by accelerating programme
planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and
d) to
ensure that the safe and cost-effective interventions are scaled up and made
accessible to all affected population, particularly the vulnerable groups,
and
2. REQUESTS
the Regional Director:
a) to increase technical support to Member States
concerned in intensification of efforts towards eradication/elimination of
these diseases;
b) to
assist Member States concerned in planning, implementation and monitoring of
the initiatives leading to eradication/elimination of these tropical
diseases;
c) to
facilitate public-private partnerships in support of activities related to
these diseases, including research contributing to new, safer and more
effective diagnostics and drugs, and
d) to mobilize funding from external sources to support
national efforts towards eradication/elimination of these neglected diseases.
SEA/RC59/R6 STRENGTHENING THE HEALTH WORKFORCE IN SOUTH-EAST
ASIA
The Regional Committee,
Recalling World Health Assembly resolution WHA59.23 and
its own resolutions SEA/RC29/R6, SEA/RC29/R9, SEA/RC38/R10, SEA/RC42/R5, SEA/RC45/R5,
and SEA/RC56/R7 relating to human resources for health,
Welcoming the Dhaka Declaration by the Health Ministers of
Member States of the WHO South-East Asia Region on strengthening health
workforce in countries of the South-East Asia Region to achieve an effective
and well motivated health workforce,
Mindful of the fact that effective and efficient
management of existing human resources for health, which is one of the most
precious and important resources of the health system infrastructure, would
lead to effective program delivery, and significant improvements in health
system performance,
Noting with concern the unacceptable shortages,
geographical and skill-mix imbalances in human resources for health in the
Region,
Recognizing that these health workforce shortages and
imbalances of skill-mix and geographical distribution are impeding the
efforts to achieve the internationally agreed-health related development
goals, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration, and those of
regional priority programmes,
Aware of the global and regional alliances that are
dedicated to health workforce development such as the Global Health Workforce
Alliance (GHWA) and the Asia-Pacific Alliance on Human Resource for Health
(AAAH), and
Having considered the document on Strengthening Health
Workforce in South-East Asia (SEA/RC59/12
(Rev.1)),
1. ENDORSES the South-East Asia Regional
Strategic Plan for Human Resource Development (document SEA/RC59/16) along
with the amendments made by members, to ensure equitable access to effective
health services through an adequate and balanced distribution of sufficient,
competent, and highly motivated health workforce;
2. URGES
Member States:
a) to establish multi-stakeholder planning teams
to develop multisectoral health workforce plans as
committed in the Dhaka Declaration;
b) to
develop and implement both short- and long-term national strategies and plans
for the health workforce that take into account the full spectrum of health
workers in both the public and private sectors, the largely untapped resource
of community health workers, and the flows of migrant health workers;
c) to
invest in the development of human resources for health in order to respond
to population health needs through adequate, competent and motivated health workforce;
d) to
strengthen the capacity and quality of training institutions to better
reflect local health situations and requirements with a particular emphasis
on public health orientation and MDGs, nursing and
midwifery;
e) to
revitalize the role of community health workers ensuring strong supervisory
and support systems, and
f) to strengthen national knowledge generation
and management through increasing investment in human resources for health
research and health information systems, and
3. REQUESTS
the Regional Director:
a) to coordinate, through an inclusive
consultative process, the development of a package of interventions and tools
for strengthening the health workforce based on the regional strategic plan;
b) to
provide technical support to Member States, as needed, in their efforts to
revitalize and develop their health workforce planning and management;
c) to
strengthen regional and national training capacity through the introduction
of innovative approaches to teaching with state-of-the-art teaching materials
and continuing education through the use of the latest information and
communication technology, and create longterm
capacity in existing national institution;
d) to
support the existing regional partnerships and networks such as the
Asia-Pacific Action Alliance on Human Resource for Health (AAAH), in
exchanging knowledge, and tools related to HRH planning and management, and
in fostering south to south collaboration in health workforce development;
e) to
facilitate further collaboration between schools of public health and health
workforce training institutes in the region such as the South-East Asia
Public Health Educational Institutes Network (SEAPHEIN) as well as those in
developed and other developing countries to improve training capacities and
to promote innovations in educational practices;
f) to develop and maintain, in collaboration with
global and regional networks, a regularly updated regional database of health
workforce both in the public and private sectors;
g) to
conduct research and document best health workforce practices with the aim to
promote the exchange of management information and best practices on human
resources for health And promote center of excellence for public health
management research in each country, according to its capacity and needs;
h) to
report to the Sixty-second Regional Committee in 2009 of progress made in the
implementation of this resolution, and
i) to support the
quality assurance programme for accrediting public
health training institutions.
SEA/RC59/R7 PUBLIC HEALTH, INNOVATION, ESSENTIAL HEALTH RESEARCH
AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
The Regional Committee,
Recalling World Health Assembly resolutions WHA59.24 on
Public Health, Innovation, Essential Health Research and Intellectual
Property Rights: towards a global strategy and plan of action, and WHA56.27
on Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation and Public Health,
Having considered the report and recommendations of the
Commission on Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation and Public Health,
Noting that an intergovernmental working group will be
convened before the end of 2006 with a view to developing a global strategy
and plan of action to provide the medium-term framework based on the
recommendations of the WHO Commission on Intellectual Property Rights,
Innovation and Public Health,
Aware of the emerging resistance to some of the currently
available drugs and the need for affordable treatment for neglected diseases,
and that insufficient research is being conducted in this area,
Considering the need to ensure appropriate incentives for
research and development of treatments for neglected and the most neglected diseases 1
predominantly affecting the Member States in the Region, and the need
to address issues related to distribution, delivery and pricing of medicines
at the end-user level,
Recognizing the importance of intellectual property rights
in fostering research and development in innovative medicines but also
acknowledging the necessity for alternative incentive systems,
Recalling that the agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of
Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) should not prevent member from taking
other measures to protect public health in their efforts to promote access to
affordable medicines, and
Reaffirming the critical need to achieve the Millennium
Development Goals to reduce poverty and promote human rights,
1. URGES Member States:
a) to actively participate in the work of
intergovernmental working group;
b) to
ensure an enabling environment including financial supports for health
research in public and private settings to better respond to the pressing
public health needs in the Region with particular emphasis on the new drugs,
vaccines and diagnostics in order to address the high burden of neglected
diseases in the Region, and
c) to
make full use of the flexibilities allowed in the TRIPS agreement, and
2. REQUESTS
the Regional Director:
a) to support the participation of Member States
in the work of intergovernmental working group;
b) to
convene a regional consultation of Member States to develop a regional
perspective prior o the meeting of the intergovernmental working group;
c) to
continue to provide technical support and mobilize financial resources to
Member States in undertaking research capacities with particular emphasis on
the neglected diseases, and
d) to report to the 62nd Regional Committee Meeting in the
2009 on progress made by this Resolution.
SEA/RC59/R8 ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION CONTROL – Policy Options
The Regional Committee,
Recalling World Health Assembly resolutions WHA32.40;
WHA36.12, WHA42.20, WHA55.10, WHA57.10, WHA57.16, WHA58.26 and its own
resolutions SEA/RC54/R2 on public health problems caused by alcohol use,
Recognizing that the adult per capita alcohol consumption
in the South-East Asia Region has almost doubled in the last decade and that
the patterns, context and overall level of alcohol consumption has a negative
impact on health and cause serious social and economic consequences to the
population, especially the poor,
Appreciating the continued efforts of Member States in
adopting and implementing comprehensive national alcohol control policies and
effective strategies for reducing public health problems caused by alcohol
use,
Having considered the document SEA/RC59/15 which
highlights various policy options to reduce public health problems caused by
alcohol use, through concerted efforts by the government, public agencies,
civil society and the private sector having no conflict of interest,
Noting the consequences of certain trade agreements that
facilitate the free flow of and investment in alcohol, which boosts the
consumption and negative impact of alcohol in the Region, and
Noting the unique characteristics of regional/national
alcohol consumption and related problems e.g. linkage of alcohol to poverty,
payday drinking, indigenous alcoholic beverages, which require
context-specific policy and interventions,
1. ENDORSES the document Alcohol Consumption Control
– Policy Options in South-East Asia Region (SEA/RC59/15) along the lines and
amendments made by Members, to help reduce public health problems caused by
alcohol use as a minimum framework for alcohol control policy and providing
strategic guidance to Member States;
2. URGES
Member States:
a) to establish/strengthen institutional
capacity, through multi-sectoral partnership, in
order to generate information on consumption of alcohol and related problems
based on socioeconomic strata, alcohol marketing strategies, commercial
aspects and revenue generated from alcohol, to be used for policy, planning,
monitoring and evaluation;
b) to
encourage appropriate participation of stakeholders having no conflict of
interest, to develop comprehensive national alcohol control policies, action
plans and programmes for reducing public health
problems caused by alcohol use, based on the Regional Policy Options as a
minimum framework;
c) to
assess the potential impact of certain trade agreements on alcohol
consumption and related problems so that effective policy interventions could
be formulated, and
d) to
establish/strengthen appropriate mechanism(s) for effective planning,
implementation, monitoring and evaluation of national programmes,
with adequate institutional capacity and funding, and
3. REQUESTS the Regional Director:
a) to support Member States in building and
strengthening institutional capacities for developing: information systems,
policies, action plans, programmes, guidelines and
monitoring/evaluation of programmes on prevention
of harm from alcohol use;
b) to
hold a biennial regional forum of key partners from Members States and other
international partners to share progress, experiences and lessons on alcohol
control programmes, and
c) to report on the progress on the implementation of the
Alcohol Consumption Control – Policy Options to the sixty-first session of
the Regional Committee in 2008.
SEA/RC59/R9 INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND HEALTH
The Regional Committee,
Recalling World Health Assembly resolution WHA59.26 on
“International Trade and Health” as well as resolutions WHA52.19, WHA53.14,
WHA56.27, WHA57.14 and WHA57.19;
Recognizing that Member States of WHO’s South-East Asia
Region are increasingly involved in international trade and agreements which
have implications for public health in the Region,
Considering the need for coherence in health and trade
policy, and mechanisms to secure better coordination among relevant
ministries responsible for trade and health,
Recognizing that a sound policy on trade and health would
secure balanced and coordinated interests between trade and health, and
Appreciating WHO’s initiatives to promote an effective
health dimension to economic policies in a changing international context,
1. URGES Member States:
a) to implement the World Health Assembly
resolution WHA59.26;
b) to
ensure the involvement of health ministries in the processes of negotiating
trade agreements in order to identify opportunities and mitigate the possible
risks of these agreements with regard to public health;
c) to
develop capacity in relevant ministries in the assessment of the implications
of international trade agreements on health of the population in order to
effectively participate in the trade negotiations, and
d) to
improve the capacity of the National Regulatory Authorities, and
2. REQUESTS
the Regional Director:
a) to support Member States in their efforts to
implement the World Health Assembly resolution WHA59.26;
b) to
continue to assist Member States in their efforts to build capacity, and
identify and assess the public health implications of international trade
agreements;
c) to
provide technical support and expertise to Member States to draft policies,
laws and regulations or establish practices and to promote the exchange of
information among Member States to address public health challenges and
leverage opportunities to improve health in the context of international
trade agreements;
d) to
mobilize resources to support the works related to Trade and Health;
e) to
assist Member States in developing necessary legal and economic frameworks
within the country to avail of the flexibilities allowed in TRIPS Agreements,
and
f) to assist Member
States in strengthening their National Regulatory Authorities.
SEA/RC59/R10 HEALTH INFORMATION SYSTEM
DEVELOPMENT RELATING TO MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS (MDGs)
AND HEALTH METRICS NETWORK (HMN)
The Regional Committee,
Recalling the Executive Board resolution EB118.R4 and
various regional and country activities relating to development and strengthening
of health information systems,
Noting with concern the issues and challenges involved in
strengthening health information systems, which are common to Member States
in the Region,
Recognizing that Member States lack sufficient health
information system capacity in terms of both human and other resources,
particularly with regard to inadequately trained human resources for applying
the latest analytical tools and methods including e-tools to synthesize and
disseminate information for decision-making,
Acknowledging that there are other issues and challenges
in identified areas of core indicators, data sources, data management ,
information products and their dissemination and use,
Having considered the commitment of Member States to
achieve the Millennium Development Goals, and the availability of the Health
Metrics Network partnership platform and Strategic Plan for Strengthening
Health Information Systems in the Region, and
Recognizing the inconsistencies of published global and
regional figures and estimates due to lack of reliable data,
1. URGES Member States:
a) to consider using the Health Metrics Framework
as a tool for health information systems assessment and in enhancing
harmonization of country efforts related to the strengthening of health
information systems , drawing up and implementing action plans, and
b) to
use the Regional Strategic Plan, the country action plan and Health Metrics
Framework in the collection of data pertaining to MDGs
and core health indicators, particularly disaggregated data, in order to
track progress and measure achievements with regard to MDGs
and the health status at national / sub-national levels, and
2. REQUESTS
the Regional Director:
a) to assist Member States in drawing up and
implementing their action plans to further strengthening country health
information systems;
b) to
assist Member States in implementing their plans for strengthening health
information systems, particularly in supporting a comprehensive assessment of
the countries’ health information system and in drafting their action plans
in the context of the Regional Strategic Plan for Strengthening Health
Information Systems, and
c) to enhance technical support to Member States towards
facilitating the collection of disaggregated data to help in tracking
progress and measuring achievements with regard to MDGs
and core health indicators at national/sub-national levels.
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