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Dhaka/New Delhi 25, August, 2006: The 59th Session of WHO’s Regional
Committee for South-East Asia concluded here
today with a call for a strong commitment and joint endeavours
for health development by the Member States.
It noted with satisfaction the progress in the implementation of WHO’s collaborative programmes and activities in the
Region.
The Committee deliberated on several issues of importance
to the countries and adopted resolutions on subjects of regional priority,
including on the following:
‘Promoting patient
safety at health care institutions’.
The Committee noted with concern the high human financial toll of
adverse events in both developed and developing nations, recognized that most
of the harm to patients is due to failures in the design, organization and
operation of systems and hence a large proportion of adverse events are
preventable.
The Committee urged Member States to assess the scope and
nature of adverse events in health care institutions. To involve stakeholders
and systems for detection and reporting of adverse events to enable improving
the systems; to promote proven interventions; to enable health care
institutions to implement systems changes and practices conducive to patient
safety. It asked Member States to use enabling policies and legislation and
information to create an environment willing to deliver safer care in health
care institutions and to engage patients and consumer associations and health
care workers and professional associations; and to establish systems that
respect the rights of both patients and providers.
The Committee asked WHO to provide technical leadership
and to coordinate the development of a strategic framework for strengthening
patient safety, and to ensure capacity building of patient safety through
training and research.
‘Alcohol consumption control- policy options in the
south-East Asia Region’: the Committee recognized
that the adult per capita alcohol consumption in the Region has almost
doubled in the last decade, and that this impacted negatively on the health
of the population including social and economic consequences especially to
the poor. The Committee also noted the
consequences of certain trade agreements that facilitate the free flow and investment
in alcohol, including the consumption and negative impact in the Region.
The Committee urged Member Countries to establish
institutional capacity to generate information on consumption of alcohol and
the related problems. They encouraged development of comprehensive national
alcohol control policies with participation of stakeholders for reducing
public health problems; to assess the potential impact of certain trade
agreements on alcohol consumptions and to formulate effective policy
interventions.
WHO was requested to support Member States to build
institutional capacity to develop policies and guidelines to prevent harm
from alcohol; to hold a biennial regional forum to share experiences and lessons.
Strengthening public health workforce in SEAR countries
and Regional strategic plan for human resource development: The Committee was
mindful of the fact that effective and efficient management of existing human
resources for health is one of the most precious and important resources of
the health system which would lead to effective programme delivery and
significant improvements in the performance of the health system. It also noted with concern the unacceptable
shortages, and imbalances of skill-mix.
The Committee urged Member States to establish planning
teams to develop multisectoral health workforce
plans as committed in the Dhaka Declaration.
It urged members to develop and implement national strategies
taking into account the full range of health workers, community health
workers and migrant health workers. It urged countries to invest in the
development of human resources; to strengthen capacity of training
institutions with a focus on public health orientation and nursing and
midwifery and to revitalize the role of community health workers.
It asked WHO to
develop a package of interventions and tools; to provide technical support to
Member States; to strengthen training capacity; to support exiting regional
partnerships and networks asch as Asia Pacific
Action Alliance on Human resource for health and to facilitate further
collaboration between schools of public health and health workforce training
institutions in the Region.
Regional initiatives for eradication/elimination of
Tropical Diseases: The Committee recognized that diseases like leprosy, kala-azar, lymphatic filariasis
and yaws are significant public health problems in the Region and affect the
poorest, most vulnerable and marginalized populations. The delegates
recognized that these diseases are neglected globally and accorded low
priority for research and development of essential technologies to address
them. They noted that their eradication and elimination is a social and moral
imperative.
The Committee urged Member States to accord high priority
to these diseases and to include them in the national development plans with
adequate budgetary support; to urge development partners to support these
efforts and to ensure that safe and cost effective interventions are scaled
up and made accessible to all affected populations and vulnerable groups.
WHO was asked to increase technical support to Member
States; to facilitate public-private partnerships for research for new, safer and more
effective diagnostics and drugs and to mobilize additional funding to support
the national efforts.
Regional strategy for health promotion: follow- up of
Sixth Global Conference on health promotion: The Committee confirmed 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 non communicable disease through
health promotion.
The Committee urged Member States to consider health promotion
as a core responsibility, central to nation and global development agendas.
It recognized the need for increasing investment in health promotion and to
foster active engagement of civil society professional bodies, the private
sector and NGOs. It urged them to strengthen capability for health promotion
policies. It asked WHO to support
Member States with adequate human and financial resources to build capacity
for developing policies, programmes, plans of action, and guidelines.
Public health, innovation, essential health research and
intellectual property rights: The Committee noted the emerging resistance to
some drugs and the need for affordable treatment for neglected diseases and
that insufficient research is being conducted in this area. They recognized
the importance of intellectual property rights in fostering research and
development in innovative medicines.
They urged Member States to ensure an enabling environment
for health research with emphasis on the new drugs, vaccines and diagnostics
to address the neglected diseases and to make full use of the flexibilities
allowed in Trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPS).
International trade and health: The Committee recognized
that Member States of the Region are increasingly involved in international
trade and agreements which have implication for public health in the
Region. The delegates urged Member
States to ensure the involvement of health ministries in the process of
negotiating trade agreements in order to identify opportunities and mitigate
the possible risks of these agreements with regard to public health; to
develop capacity in relevant ministries to better assess the implication of
international trade agreements on the health of the population. They asked WHO to assist Member States to
identify and assess the public health implications of international trade
agreements and in developing necessary legal and economic frameworks to avail
the flelxibilities allowed in TRIPS Agreement.
Health information system development: The Committee noted
the challenges involved in strengthening Health Information Systems(HIS), and
the inconsistencies of published global and regional figures and estimates
due to lack of reliable data. It urged
Member States to draw up and implement their plans to strengthen country HIS,
and to use the Health metrics framework as a tool for HIS assessment.
The Regional Committee decided that the Technical
discussions in 2007 would be held on the subjects of “Nutrition and food
safety”
The Regional Committee decided that its sixtieth session
would be held in Bhutan
in conjunction with the Meeting of Ministers of Health.
For further information please contact: Mrs Harsaran
Pandey-Regional Information Officer, local mobile : 0171-5999-869 email : pandeyh@searo.who.int and Dr Iqbal Kabir, WHO Dhaka Office Mobile : 0171-1-419232
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