(WP/RC15/M1n/5 Rev.I)
MINUTES OF THE FIFTH MEEI'ING
WHO Conference Hall Tuesday, 22 September 1964 at 9.00 a.m. CHAIRMAN: Dr L. W. Jaye suria CONTENTS
statements by representatives of the United Nations and the Technical Assistance Board, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations in official relations witIl
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171
2.
Acknowleilgement by the Chairman of brief reports received from governments on the progress of their health activitie s ..•.••.••.•.....••.••..•.........•.•••...•. Consideration of the report !,J:eGell~.eil, by the SubCommittee on Amendments to the Rules of x-:cocedure Consideration of the report presented by the SubCommittee on Programme and Budget •.••••••••.•.. _............ Selection of topic for the Technical Discussions during the sixteenth session of the Regional Committee Consideration of the report presented by the Technical Discussion Gro\lP ....................................................
175 175
3· 4.
182
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5· 6.
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189 192
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7· 8.
Time, place and duration of the sixteenth and seventeentb sessions of the Regional Committee ....................... -.. Consideration of the draft resolutions .••.•..••........••••. Other business ••.•.••••....•.• _.•.....•..•• , . • • • • • • • . • • • • . • •
192 193 1::>:;
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REGIONAL COMMITI'EE: FlF'I'EENTH SESSION
Fifth Meeting Tuesday, 22 september 1964 at 9.00 a.m. PRESENT
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I.
Representatives of Member states AUsrRALIA Dr H.E. DOwnes Dr R.F.R. Scragg Dr e.J. Ross-Smith
CAMBODIA CHINA FRANCE
His Highness prince Norodom MPnissara Dr C.K. Chang Dr T.e. Hsu Medecin Colonel M. Orsini Medecin Commandant J.L. Rigaud Mr K. Mr y.
JAPAN
Dr y. Ozaki watanabe Matsuda Mr
KOREA LAOS MALAYSIA
Dr sang Tae Han Kuan Seop Jin Dr Phouy Phouttasak
Dr Dr Dr Dr
L.W. Jayesuria D.M. Cameron R. Dickie V. Thevathasan
T
.-:
,
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NEW ZEAlAND PHILIPPINES
Dr D.P. Kennedy Dr Dr Dr Dr A.H. Cruz J.J. Dizon V. Mauricio A. San JUan
PORl'UGAL UNITED KINGDOM
Dr N.C. de Andrade Dr A.C. Guerra
Dr P.H. Teng Dr J.D. MaCGregor Dr D.W. Baokless
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MINUTES OF THE FIFTH MEETING
.' UNITED srATES OF AMERICA Dr R.K.C. Lee Dr E.J. O'Rourke Dr J.W. Sampson Colonel E.J. Dehne Dr Nghiem Xuan Tho Dr J.C. Thieme
VIET-NAM
WESTERN SAMOA II.
Representatives of the United Nations and Specialized Agencies UNITED NATIONS TECHNICAL ASSIsrANCE B6ARD INTERNATIONAL IABOUR ORGANISATION
Mr A.H. Mackenzie Mr A.H. Mackenzie Dr R. Goldsmith
III. Representatives of other intergovernmental organizations SOUTH PACIFIC COMMISSION IV. Medecin Colonel M. Orsini
Representatives of non-governmental organizations INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE PREVENTION OF BLINDNESS INl'ERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF NURSES
Dr S.P. Lopez Mrs L.A. Alvarez Dr A. Ursua
INTERNATIONAL DENTAL FEDERATION INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF GYNECOLCGY AND OBsrETRICS INTERNATIONAL PAEDIATRIC ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF BLOOD TRANSFUSION INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR REHABILITATION OF THE DISABLED INTEITNATIONAL UNION FOR HEALTH EDUCATION
Dr D. Valenzuela Dr Fe del Mundo Dr G.C. Caridad Dr D.J. Tablan Dr F.M. Herrera
170
REGIONAL COMMITl'EE: FIFTEENTH SESSION
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'. LEAGUE OF RED CROSS SOCIE'I:IES MEDICAL WOMEN'S INTERNATIONAL
Dr G.C. Ce.ridad Dr Fe del Mundo Mrs C. Abad.
ASSOCIATION WORLD FEDERATION OF OCCUPATIONAL THERAPISTS
WORLD FEDERATION OF SOCIm'IES OF ANAESTHESIOLOGISTS
Dr B.A. de Castro, Jr.
v.
WHO Secretariat REPRESENTATIVE OF THE
DIRECTOR-GENERAL SECRETARY
Dr P.M. Dorolle Deputy Director-General Dr F.J. Dy Director of Health Services
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MINUTES OF THE FIFTH .M:EmING
171
STATEMENTS BY REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED NATIONS AND THE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE BOARD, INTERGOVERNMENTAL AND NON-GOVERNME:NTAL ORGANIZATIONS IN OFFICIAL RELATIONS WITH WHO (continued from the first meeting, sections 13 and 14, and the fourth meeting, section 1) ~t
the invitation of the Chairman, the following representatives
presented statements. 1.1 Representative of the United Nations and the Technical Assistance Board
--
Mr MACKENZIE stated that he had been asked by the Secretary-General
of the United Nations, Mr David Owen, Executive Chairman of the Technical Assistance Board, and Mr Victor Hoo, Commissioner for Technical Assistance, to convey their regards and greetings to the Committee and to wish it every success in its deliberations. He then referred to the prospective merger between the Technical
Assistance Board and the Special Fund.
This merger had. been recommended
by the Economic and Social Council and would be debated on in the General Assembly shortly. It meant that the names, Technical Assistance Board
and the Special Fund, would disappear and. be replaced by a programme called the United Nations Development Programme. on 1 January 1965. This "'8.S
due to start
It would have no implications on the work in the
field and the two programmes would continue both with different characteristics. 1.2 It would mean a change in title onJ.y.
Representative of the South Pacific Commission Dr ORSINI said that the Director for Health of the South Pacific
CommiSsion regretted very much that he could not attend the
meeting~
He was, however, fully occupied with arrangements for the next meeting of the Commission. It was for this reason that the French Government
172 "
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had agreed to Dr Orsini's presence at the meeting of the Regional
Committee in a dual capacity. The
COmmission was particularly interested in the following agenda (1) item 11: research in population genetics of primitive groups -
items:
the Commission had been dealing with the survey made in Tongarikij (2) item 15: protection of the pre-school child - the team of maternal and child health specialists sent by WHO had been invited to use the headquarters of the Commission as an administrative centre; (3) item 16: the public health aspects of protection against ionizing radiation; and
,
(4) item 18: dental epidemiology and national dental services. At its fifteenth session in 1963, the Commission had proposed that it might assist those territories which were interested in carrying out dental epidemiology surveys. Information documents had already been distributed.
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The 1965 programme of the South Pacific Commission included a certain number of projects in the fields of maternal and child health, nutrition and training. The
Commission was considering the possibility of convening
a seminar on maternal and child health, a conference on the organization ~
and administration of health education services, and a training course on environmental health for health agents or sanitary aSSistants, with particular reference to water supplies and waste disposal. Under the head.ing "training", the Commission envisaged the exchange of experts and specialists for seminars. This last heading in the
'.
Commission I S programme covered health education. In concluding, Dr Orsini stated that the South Pacific Commission
had asked him to inform the Committee of its wish to 'WOrk closely with
all international organizations within the Region,
MINUTES OF THE FIFTH MEETING .'
173
1.3 . Representative of' the International Society for Rehabilitation of the Disabled Dr TABLAN extended the greetings of the International Society for Rehabilitation 01' the Disabled and its affiliate member, the Philippine Foundation for the Rehabilitation of the Disabled, Inc. The rehabilita-
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tion programmes in the Western Pacific areas were in various stages of' development. One of the problems -was the shortage of qualified thera-
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pists.
WHO's generous assistance in establishing physical therapy and
occupational therapy training schools in Japan and the Philippines had strengthened the rehabilitation programmes in these areas. He hoped
that this programme would gradually be extended to other countries in the Region. 1.4 Representative of the International Dental Federation Dr URSUA transmitted the greetings of the Federation of Dental Practitioners and the International Federation of Dentists. For the
past f'ew years, he had keenly -watched the progress made in developing an interest in dental health and had been especially impressed by the dental epidemiological survey carried out in Singapore. He referred to the remarks made by the previous speakers in connection with fluoridation, which -was the greatest single contribution to preventive dentistry among schoolchildren. He had personally
visited such projects in the United States of America, Canada, Australia, and lately in Singapore and Hong Kong. The records of' the Governments
concerned showed that fluoridation had resulted in a great reduction in the incidence of dental caries. The International Federation of' Dentists
hoped the Organization would intenSify its activities in the field of'
174
ROOICEAL
C~:
FIFTEENTH SESSICE "
dental health, particularly among thesch<;>olchildren,as they had the highest percentage of dental defects. 1.5 Representative of the World Federation of Occupational Therapists Mrs ABAD extended the greetings of the World Federation of Occupational Therapists. Although occupational therapy was a compara-
•
tively new profession in the Philippines, significant strides had recently been made. Two years ago, the School of Allied l£dical
Professions had been established under the College of Medicine of the University of the Philippines. This school, which was receiving
assistance from WHO, UNICEF and other agencies, was the first one of its kind. in the whole of Asia to offer an educational programme at university level. The School would bene1'it not only the PhilippineS
but also those neighbouring countries which might wish to take advantage of this additional programme. As the Chairman had stated in his
opening address, training of medical and paramedical personnel should be undertaken in the Region, as this would enable them to understand the specific problems better and map out more realistic health programmes. She invited governments in the Region to take advantage of .
this new training centre. 1.6 Representative of the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists
.
Dr de CASTRO referred to the many accidents, fatal or near fatal,
which occurred in operating theatres.
It was essential to train more The problem was to know
men if these accidents 'Were to be prevented.
where to send them for training, as in some cases anaesthesiologists trained abroad had not been able to adjust to 10cal conditions and had,
MINUTES OF THE FIFTH MEEl'ING ;
175
therefore, left the country to work elsewhere.
Dr de Castro quoted
figures to show that the available number of trained men in the developing countries was far below their minimum needs. WHO had recognized this
problem and had helped by granting a number of anaesthesia fellowships. He suggested that an Asian centre for anaesthesiology might be established" where training could be adjusted to situations and facilities in Asia.. Good anaesthesia made all the difference between haphazard medicine and modern adequate medical care.
2.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN OF BRIEF REPORTS RECEIVED FROM GOVERNME:NTS ON THE PROGRESS OF THEIR HEALTH ACTIVITIES: Item 9 of the Agenda (continued from the first meeting, section 9) His Excellency Prince NORODOM (Cambodia) read to the Committee a
brief progress report on health activities during the period September 1963 - September 1964. The CHAIRMAN acknowledged the report of the Royal Government of
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Cambodia and stated that the complete text would be distributed to all representatives.
3.
CONSIDERATION OF THE REPORT PRESENTED BY THE SUB-COMMITTEE ON AMENDME:NTS TO THE RULES OF PROCEDURE: Item 14 of the Agenda (Document WP/RC15/l5)1 (continued from the third meeting, section 5) Dr KENNEDY (New Zealand), Vice-Chairman, presented the Sub-
Committee's report to the Committee.
After thorough consideration of
the subject,the Sub-Committee had decided to deal separately with the two main points at issue. Firstly, regarding that part of Rule 51
which related to the establishment of a list of candidates for the
lSee unpublished document WP/RC15/l7 Rev.l, Annex 4
176
REGIONAL COMMITTEE: FIFTpITH SESSION
nomination of Regional Directors, the Sub-Committee felt that there had been general agreement in the Committee on this point. in the draft amendment contained in Annex 1. This was reflected
It was, of course, clearly
understood that the person(s) proposed might not necessarily be nationals of the Mamber country concerned. Secondly, regarding that part of Rule
51 on the procedure for selection of a person to be nominated to the Executive Board, the Sub-Committee felt that the general consensus of the Regional Committee was for submission to the Board of the names of more than one candidate. It had, therefore, agreed to recommend that
not less than two and not more than three names would. be submitted. It also recommended that the names of the candidates so elected should be submitted to the Board by order of preference, as indicated by the order of their election. Mr WATANABE (Japan) observed that the recommendations of the Sub-
Committee were more or less the same as the Japanese Government I s instructions to its delegates. He hoped that Mamber governments would He expressed his delegation IS
accept the Sub-Committee I s report.
appreciation of the work done by the members of the Sub-Committee and the endless efforts shown by the Deputy Director-General to produce such a satisfactory report. Dr ORSINI (France) supported the views of the Representative of: Japan. He wished, however, to a.nend the text in the last paragraph
referring to the order of: preference. versial question.
This had been rather a contro-
The feeling of the majority of the members of the
Sub-Committee had been, however, that the Regional Committee should inform the Executive Board in one way or another of its preference.
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MINUTES OF THE FIFTH MEETING
177
One could not, of course, expect the Executive Board to take a decision without any information at all on such an important question. However,
the French delegation disagreed with the opinion of the other delegations on the manner in which it was proposed that the Regional Committee should inform the Executive Board of its preference. The Director-General was
ex-officiO secretary of all Regional COmmittees, so that he or his designated representative would certainly participate in any meetings where candidates were being designa.ted. He would therefore be the
best qualified person to inf'orm the Executive Board of the results of the discussions and the opinions expressed viva voce, which were very often of as much ,'alue as those expressed by ballot. The French dele-
gation considered that the Director-General was the most direct link between the Regional Committee and the Executive Board. The Director-
General would report the feelings of the Regional Committee to the Executive Board to whom the final choice should be left. delegation wished, therefore, The French
to suggest that the phrase concerned
should be redrafted to read ''the names of the persons who were nominated shall be submitted to the Executive Board ". This would, of course, be
subject to the inclusion of a statement to the effect that the DirectorGeneral or his designated representative would inform the Executive Board of the opinion of the majority of the Committee. Dr BOOKLESS (United Kingdom) stated that his delegation agreed with the spirit of the draft amendment. It appeared, however, that
there was some slight ambiguity in the wording of the last sentence on page 5, Annex 1, where it was stated that "in the event of a tie between the remaining candidates after three such ballots, the whole procedure established by this Rule should be recommenced". He thought
178
·. that if' this were read literally, and presumably it must be taken literally, it meant that in the event of' a tie it would be necessary to go right back to the beginning of' the entire procedure, starting with the request for nominations by the Director-General. Dr DOROLLE, Deputy Director-General, thanked the Representative of' the United Kingdom f'or his remarks. been used. There was some ambiguity. The original wording of' Rule 51 had
This could be solved either by
changing the words to the "whole procedure established by this paragraph should be recommencedlt , or the "whole voting procedure established by this Rule should be recommenced lt or a combination of' both. The VICE-CHAIRMAN said the ref'erence ref'erred to the voting procedure only. He f'elt that the insertion of' the phrase '~he
whole
voting procedure established by this paragraph" would ref'lect the vievn; of the Sub-Committee in this respect. Dr .ANDRADE (portugal) stated that his delegation supported. the proposition of the French delegation regarding the deletion of an order of' preference. Dr O'ROURKE (United states of America) stated that the United States delegation felt that, in addition to the Director-General or his deputy making an informal report to the Executive Board, there should be further information on the actual voting. This had been the opinion of the The United states delega-
maJority of the members of the Sub-Committee.
tion was very much in favour of keeping the words as recommended by the Sub-Committee. It f'elt that this would be the most democratic and f'ormal
way for the Regional Committee to express to the Executive Board the cand.1date it preferred for the post of Regional Director.
MINUTES OF THE FIFTH MEETING
179
Dr SCRAGG (Australia) supported the comments of the Representative
of' the United States of' America.
It was iIli>ortant that the wishes of
the Committee should not be dissipated during their transmission to the Executive Board. Even though the Representative of the Director-General
was !lresent the decisions made should be on :permanent record f'or consid.eration by the final authority. Dr ORSINI stated that from the discussions he had gathered. the impression that those proposing the submission of a list in order of preference took it f'or granted that the Executive Board would endorse the proposals of' the Committee. Ho.rever, the question arose as to If' the Executive
whether it was wise to indicate an order of preference.
Board, as it was free to do in view of its po\rer of decision, did not comply with the wishes of' the Regional Committee a delicate situation would be created as the Committee might feel that its wishes had not been taken into consideration. For this reason, his delegation would
like to suggest that a more flexible procedure should be adopted in order to avoid open conflict, or at least disagreement, bet.reen the Regional Committee and the Executive Board. Dr O'ROURKE believed that the Representative of France might be more worried about the situation than the other members of the SubCommittee. The Sub-Committee knew that the Executive Board had the
authority to make the decision and that it was not bound by anything the Regional Committee suggested. This point had been discussed rather
extenSively and it had been the feeling that the more guidance the Regional Committee could give to the Executive Board, the better the Executive Board's decision would be. He could not see how the
180
retention of an order of preference m:>uld cause misunderstanding between the Executive Board and the Regional Committee. There was a clear-cut
voting procedure which allowed the Regional Committee to let the Executive Board know exactly its feelings about candidates, and this would guide the Executive Board in making its decision. Dr DOROLLE said that the Secretariat had done its best to reflect in the draft report the views expressed by the Sub-Committee. He did
not wish to repeat the lengthy statements he had made on various occasions in the Sub-Committee'but he thought that he should place on record the views of the Director-General. The Director-General
believed that it m:>uld be better for the Committee not to indicate an order of preference so as not to place the Board in the delicate situation of having to disagree with this order of preference, but Dr Dorolle wished to reiterate that it was for this Committee to decide on its Rules of Procedure and it was perfectly free to adopt any procedure which it deemed advisable. Regarding the statement made by the
Representative of France, he wished to confirm what he himself had said in the Sub-Committee, to the effect that, according to the Constitution,
the Director-General was the ex-officio secretary of the Assembly and of all Committees in the Organization. With regard to the Regional
COmmittees, he delegated his functions to the Regional Director, but it had been a continued tradition, without any exception, that the DirectorGeneral had retained for himself or his personal representative, usually his deputy, the functions of secretary of the Regional Committee during an election. Thus, the Director-General m:>uld always be at the disposal.
or the Regional Committee to give further
information on the candidates
and m:>uld be at the disposal of the Board to convey to it the sense of
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MINUTES OF ·THE FlFTH MEErING
181
the deliberations in the Regional Committee (it being understood that he could not break the secrecy of the deliberations) by indicating to the Board the feelings of the Committee regarding the different candidates. The CHAIRMAN observed that there appeared to be a difference of opinion as to whether the Regional Committee should accept the proposal of the Sub-Committee or not. He drew attention to the proposed amendment
to part of Rule 51 on page 6, which read as follows:
''The names of the
persons so nominated shall be submitted to the Executive Board in the order of preference as indicated by the order of their election". The Representative of France had proposed an amendment, which had been
supported. by the Representative of Portugal.
This was as follows:
''The names of the persons so nominated shall be submitted to the Executive Board". The amendment proposed by the Representative of France was put to the vote, with the following results: four in favour, eleven against.
The CHAIRMAN then invited the Committee to vote on the acceptance of the report of the Sub-Committee. Decision: The report of the Sub-Committee was unanimously approved (see resolution WP/RC15~R2). Dr DOROLLE stated that the decision taken would be submitted to Headquarters and would certainly be of great assistance to other Regional committees. It represented a very wise move on the part of
the COmmittee and a great step toward a better interpretation of the Constitution.
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REGIONAL COMMITTEE: FIFTEENTH SESSION
4.
CONSIDERATIOO OF THE REPORT PRESENTED BY THE SUB-COMMITTEE ON
PROGRAMME: AND BUDGET: Item 8.2 of the Agenda (Document WP/RC15/14)1 The CHAIRMAN presented the report and invited comments.
•
Dr BOOKLESS (United Kingdom) referred. to the statement on page 3, paragraph 3, regarding the transfer of the office of the from Sydney to Suva. ~lHO
Representative
Whilst the United Kingdom Government welcomed in
principle this proposed move, it was desired to point out at this stage that the final move would be subject to detailed negotiations with the Government of Fiji. In connection with malaria, as the Committee members might be aware, there was a pilot programme in operation in the British Solomon Islands Protectorate. On behalf of the United Itlngdom delegation, he wished to
thank the Organization for the considerable amount of assistance which had been given not only to this particular project, but also to the rural health services project in the British Solomon Islands Protectorate.
Dr CRUZ (Philippines) drew attention to paragraph 1, item 1 of the draft resolution WP/RC1 5/WP/9: "APPROVES the prOposed programme for the year 1966 but notes .lith concern the resulting increase in expenses; and recommended that the words "but notes with concern the resulting increase in expenses" should be deleted. This pOint had been tooroug):Jly n
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discussed during the meeting of the Sub-Committee and the Secretariat was aware of the feelings of the group.
1
See unpublished document WP/RC15/17 Rev.l, Annex 3
183
" Dr BOOKLESS, referring to a point of order, enquired if' this was
the right place to move for amendments to the draft resolution.
He
thought that the Committee was still discussing the report of the SubCommittee on Programme and Budget. The CHAIRMAN suggested that the Committee deal with the report
first and then proceed to the draft resolution. Dr DOWNES (Australia), Rapporteur, thought that it was his duty to the Committee to draw attention to the penultimate paragraph on page 7, wherein it was stated that the 1966 proposed programme and budget estimates to be financed from Technical Assistance funds reflected the actual requests made by Member governments to the Executive Chairman of the Technical Assistance Board. The Technical It was He had been
Assistance programme consisted of two categories, I and II. likely that the second category would not be implemented.
informed that the Technical Assistance funds available for the next biennium. on a global basis were the same as those for the last period.
Only the health authorities could be blamed if their governments did not give a fair share to health in their Overall programme requests. Dr DOROLLE, Deputy Director-General, was glad that the Representative of Australia had brought up this matter. It was the duty of the
national health administrations to ensure the adequate inclusion of health activities in their countries' consolidated progr~ requests to the Technical ASSistance Board. nothing WHO could do. If this was not done, there was
The Ministry of Health had to fight at the
national level for adequate recognition of the importance of health I '
REGIONAL COMMITI'D: FIFTEENTH SESSION
in economic development in order to Technical Assistance funds.
~t
a reasonable share of the
In the absence of any further comment, it was agreed to accept the Sub-Committee report.
Consideration of the and budget estimates The CHAIRMAN presented draft resolution WP/RC1S/wp/9 on the proposed programme and budget estimates for 1966, which read as follows; The Regional COmmittee, I Having examined the programme and budget estimates proposed for the Western Pacific Region in 1966 and the report of the SubComInittee on PrOgramme and Budget, 1.
APPROVES the proposed programme for the year 1966 but notes with concern the resulting increase in expenses;
2. AGREES that as many as possible of the follOwing intercountry group educational activities proposed to be financed under the Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance should be undertaken: Seminar on integration of health services Training course on environmental health for the South Pacific Conference on the training of auxiliary health personnel Maternal and child health advisory services. South Pacific; II REQUESTS the Regional Director to transmit the programme and budget proposals to the Director-General for his consideration.
_ _ _ _ _ _._ _-'l;..::m==JUTE===s~OF~T=HE FIFTH""_;-.-MEF.;..::=,='l'=TI:.;.:JG::....--_ _ _ __
Dr BOOKLESS referred to item 1 of paragraph I: "APPROVES the proposed programme for the year 1966 but notes with concern the resulting increase in expenses ". According to Article 56 of the Constitution of the
Organization, it was the Health Assembly which reviewed and approved the budget. This was translated into some more definite instructions
in Financial Regulations 3.7, where again it was stated without any ambiguity that the Health Assembly approved the budget. Indeed even the
Executive Board could only forward the budget to the Health Assembly. The United Kingdom delegation therefore ..rished to make an amendment to the resolution by substituting the word "COMMENDS" in place of "APPROVES". Dr DOROLLE confirmed that the statement made by the representative of the United Kingdom was correct. Dr C~TG (China) said that his delegation felt that the problem of an increase in expenses was the concern of the Health Assembly rather than of the Committee. It wished to propose, therefore, that the phrase
''but notes with concern the resulting increase in expenses" should be deleted. Dr LEE (United states of America) stated that the Sub-Committee on Programme and Budget had had two long meetings during which some members had accepted words, with which they did. not concur and others had accepted considerations with which they d.id not quite agree. resolution as proposed needed some changes. He believed that the
If it was decid.ed to exclude
the phrase ''but notes with concern the resulting j.ncrease in expenses ", the Committee should consider the amendment proposed by the Representative
186
of the United Kingdom.
During the deliberations of the Sub-Committee,
some. members had suggested the phrase "TAKES NOTE of the proposed programme for the year 1966 .... ". Howver as the YIOrd "APPROVES" had
been left, .it had been decided to leave in the phrase "but notes 'With concern .... ". If this phrase wre eliminated, then the word "APPROVES II The Committee must
should certainly not be included. in the resolution.
decide whether to use the YIOrd "COMMENDS" or "TAKES NOTE". In connection .lith item 2, instead of the word "AGREES", he YIOuld
suggest that the words "SUGGESTS that as many as possible ..•. ".
He
believed that all agreed that this was not the forum for the approval of' the inter-country programmes listed in the dra1't resolution. was the prerogative of the \07orld Health Asseaibly. Mr UATfu"'l'ABE (Japan) remarked that although not a member of' the Sub-
This
Committee on Programme and Budget, he had attended its deliberations and had listened to the very f'ruitf'ul discussions on the programme and budget for 1966. His delegation had been particularly impressed by the
statement of the Representative of the United states of America in connection with the yearly increase in the global budget of WHO. Government On WdS
His
gratified to know that the activities of WHO ..'ere increasing.
the other hand, it was gravely concerned over the endless increase in It was for this reason that the delegation from·
the yearly budgets.
Japan 'Wished. strongly to support the amendment proposed by the Representative of the United States of Amertca.
Dr ORSINI (France) reiterated what he had prevtously stated. d.urtng the meeting of the Sub-Committee on Programme and Budget. He agreed
with the proposal made by the H:!presentative of the United states of
MINUTES OF THE FIFTH MEETING
187
America and concurred. with the views expressed by the Representative of Japan. Accord.ing to the WHO Constitution, the Regional Committee was not
in a posj.tion to approve the budget but its members were surely entitled to give approval to the draft programme and budget. not curtail the prerogatives of the Assembly. Dr BOOKLESS stated that he would be prepared to accept the words "NarES" or "TAKES NOTE", instead of "COMMENDS", if this were acceptable to the Committee. It was so agreed. The CHAI~Wili
This would, in
eff~ct,
then referred to the amendment proposed by the Represen-
tative of China that the phrase 'but notes with concern the resulting increase in expenses" should be deleted. Dr CRUZ stated that he would agree to the proposal of the Representative of the United Kingdom. He wished, however, to support the proposal
of the Representative of China that the second phrase should be deleted.
Dr ORSINI suggested that the proposal should be put to the vote. It was so agreed. summarizing the results of the voting, the CHAIRMAN reported that four were in favour of and. eleven were against the deletion of the phrase. Decision: Paragraph r.l to read; "TAKES NOTE of the proposed programme for the year 1966 but notes "lith concern the resulting increase in expenses ". ~
f
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,
188 • The CHAIRMAN asked for comments on the suggestion made by the Representative of the United states of .America that the word "AGREES" in paragraph 1.2 should be replaced with the word "SUGGESTS". Dr LEE stated that his delegation would like to withdraw its proposed change to paragraph 2 of the dra:f.'t resolution in view of the results of the voting on the phrasing of paragraph 1. In other words,
the term "AGREES" in the beginning of paragraph 2 should remain as presented in the draft resolution. The CHAIRMAN suggested that this too should be put to the vote. The results were as follows: abstention. Decision: There being no further c.oendments, the draft resolution, as amended, was adopted (see resolution WP/RC l 5.R3) • Dr DOROLLE stated that since the Committee had now adopted the resolution WP/RC15.R3, as amended, he would like to draw the attention of the Committee to two points. Firstly, members should realize that fourteen in favour, none against, one
-.
the second paragraph of the resolution was merely an indication of a wish. It would be difficult to say anything about the ill\Plementation
of this wish until the money available in the 1966 Technical Assistance programme and the amount allocated to inter-country programmes .Tere known. Secondly, as had been said in the course of the discussions,
there was a continuing increase in the
truo
regular budget, but it should
be borne in mind that there was a continuing regular increase in the membership of WHO, wi1:.h more and more countries to serve. Also, both
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the Assembly and the Board had instructed the Director-General to
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MINUTES OF THE !<'IFTH MEEl'ING
189
undertake new activities.
To this should be added the continuing normal If an attempt were made to stabilize the
increase in the cost of living.
budget of the Organization, there would be a continuing regular decrease in its activities.
5·
SELECTION OF TOPIC FOR THE TECHNICAL DISCUSSIONS DURING THE SDCI'EENTH SESSION OF THE REGIONAL COMMITTEE: Item 19 of the Agenda (Document WP/RC15/11) Dr DY, Director of Health Services, stated that document WP/RC15/11
•
contained suggestions of the Secretariat as to the topics which might be considered for the Technical Discussions in 1965. It was possible that
representatives might have some alternative topics to suggest. Dr HAN (Korea) said that health education was one of the basic health
services.
This fact had been recognized not only in his country but in It was an essential component of the For this
other countries of the Region.
local health services which were rapidly expanding in Korea.
reason, he proposed that the topic on "the use of health education services in national health programmes" should be selected. Colonel DEHNE (United states of America) stated that there were many disciplines in health and the programmes concurrently in effect were based on training, planning and organization. These had been It
developed to a great extent over the last ten to fifteen years.
would appear timely to review the experiences gained, particularly in training, recruitment and staffing, with a view to developing a more comprehensive approach towards the staffing of health departments. For this reason, his delegation would like to propose to the Committee
•
that consideration be given to the topic "changing reqUirements or
190
REGIONAL COMMI'I'fEE: FIFTEENTH SESSION ~-
,
patterns of hea.lth department staffing",
This wuld provide an
opportunity to study the more effective use of the different categories of hea.lth personnel. Hea.lth centres, dispensaries and hospitals could
be built over a certain period of time but to staff' them with adequately trained personnel wuld take several years. He proposed, therefore, v
that serious consideration be given to a topiC that would show the comprehensive aspect of health staffing. Dr PHOtmASAK (Laos) supported the proposal put forward by the
•
Representative of Korea. Dr ORSINI (France) stated that the three topics listed in the document were most interesting but felt that priority should be given to "the use of health education services in national health programmes". These services were the best advocates of' preventive medicine as they stimulated a spontaneous request on the part of the population which wuld take the place of compulsion. Dr OZAKI (Japan) supported the statements of the Representatives of' Korea, Laos and France. Since the next session of the Regional Committee
wuld be held in Seoul, Korea, it might be a good idea if the Committee would agree to adopt the topic on health education services. Dr SCRAGG (Australia) felt that the new topic proposed by the
Representative of the United States of America was somewhat related to the second topic listed in the document. He believed that "applied
nutrition in the public health programme II merited more consid.eration as this was one of' the most important problems in the Region. Furthermore,
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, .
as could be seen in the list of subjects discussed in previous years,
, MINUTES OF THE FIFTH MEErING 191
the Committee had never discussed this subject.
Although health education
was also important, it would be difficult, in general discussions, to add very much to the knowledge of the use of health education. More knowledge
could be gained in discussing problems in the field of nutrition. Dr THEVATHASAN (Malaysia) supported the proposal of' the Representative of Australia. to Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak. Dr CRUZ (Philippines) stated that his delegation would like to support the views expressed by thF! Australian and MaLa.ysian Representatives. The importance of nutrition had in fact been referred to in the document on the pre-school child. His Excellency Prince N0RODOM (Cambodia) stated that he was fully in agreement with the French Representative's proposal. Mr WATANADE (Japan) noted that as far as previous records shewed,
This subject was of particular interest
.,
the subject of health education had not been dealt with in either an inter-country programme or a seminar, while in 1964 there had been a seminar on nutrition at the village level. He thought it would be a
good chance to discuss health education at the next Technical Discussions. Dr SCRAGG referred to page 155 of document IfP/RC15/2 on which a regional conference on health education was listed. This discussion
would include public health administrators and health education specialists. t
..
Colonel DEHNE withdrew his proposal and supported the choice of the Representative of Korea.
192
REGIONAL COMMITl'EE: FIFTEENTH SESSION
, '.
Decision: The Committee agreed that ''The Use of "Health Education Services in National Health Programmes should be the topic of the Technical Discussions at the siXteenth session of the Committee (see resolution WP/RC15·R4)·
6.
CONSIDERATION OF THE REPORT PRESENTED BY THE TECHNICAL DISCUSSION GROUP: Item 20 of the Agenda (Document WP/RC1 5/ l6 ) Dr LEE (United states of lunerica), Chairman of the Technical
Discussions, had no further comments to make except to place on record his appreciation to the Secretariat of the excellent job they had done in getting out the report. He also commended the general rapporteur,
-.
Dr San Juan, for her efforts in helping the Secretariat to produce this consolidated document. Dr CRUZ (Philippines) proposed that a resolution should be adopted. expressing the appreciation of the Committee to Dr lee and the various officers for their work in connection with the Technical Discussions. It was so agreed (see resolution WP/RC15.R4).
1.
TIME, PLACE AND DURATION OF THE SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH SESSIONS OF THE REGIONAL COMMI'l"I'EE: Item 21 of the Agenda Dr DY, Director of Health Services, stated that the COmmittee,
at its twelfth session, had accepted the invitation of the Government of the Republic of Korea to hold its sixteenth session in Seoul, Korea. Unless the Committee decided otherwise, the seventeenth session would be held in Manila in accordance with the past procedure that every second year the meeting would meet at regional headquarters. -;
, !
1
See unpublished document WP/RC15/17 Rev.l, Annex 5
MINUTES OF THE FIFTH MEE.'I'ING
193
Dr HAN (Korea) reaffirmed the invitation of his Government that the
Committee should meet next year in Seoul. made for a post-conference tour.
Arrangements were also being
The CHAIRMAN informed the Committee that his Government wished to invite the Committee to hold its eighteenth session in 1967 in Kuala Lum;pur. Dr LEE (United states of America) thanked both Governments for their invitations. He had been a guest in Malaysia, which was a beautiful and
progressive country, and felt that the Committee should record its thanks for this invitation. He also congratulated Dr Jayesuria on having so
ably served as Chairman in planning the meeting for 1967. Dr DOWNES (Australia) and Dr BOOKLESS (United Kingdom) stated that
their de:egations would like to add their thanks to those of the de1egation of the United states of America. (For consideration of draft
resolution, see minutes of the sixth meeting, section 1.)
8.
CONSIDERATION OF THE DRAFT RESOLUTIONS
8.1 Draft resolution WP RC1 WP 2 Rev.l: Health in relation to demographic questions continued from the third meeting, section 1) Dr BODKLESS (United Kingdom) suggested that item 4 (3) should be changed to read ''that health and ancillary personnel be trained in
•
demography as it relates to health •.• " field of workers in this area • It was so agreed.
This would cover the entire
• t I ~
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REGIOOAL COMMI'l"rEE: FIFTEENTH SESSION
Dr ORSINI (France) stated that because of the situation in the
French territories in the Pacific, it was regretted that the French delegation could not support the draft resolution. Decision: There being no further comments, the draft resolution was adopted (see resolution vlP/RCl5.R5).
8.2
Dr HSU (China) requested the deletion of the words "and a tendency
towards an increase over the past few years" in paragraph 1.(1). Dr CRUZ (Philippines) supported the draft resolution, particularly
item 3 (2). Decision: The draft resolution, as amended, was unanimously adopted (see resolution WP/RC15.R6).
8.3
Decision: The draft resolutions were unanimously adopted (see resolutions WP/RC15.R7, WP/RCl5.R8 and WP/RC15.R9).
8.4
Dr ORSINI (France) drew the attention of the CollllDittee to the intercountry dental health programme and stated that a programme on dental epidemiology was being carried out ~th
• ~
WHO assistance in French Polynesia.
Decision: The draft resolution was unanimously adopted (see resolution WP/RCl5.RlO).
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MINUTES OF THE FIFTH MEEl'ING
195/196
9·
OTHER BUSINESS: Item 22 of the Agenda Dr DOROLLE, Deputy Director-General, said that, due to a change in
the plane schedule, he would be leaving Manila this afternoon instead of tomorrow, and could not be present at the closing ceremony.
He expressed
the Director-General's appreciation of the patience and sympathy which the Committee members had shown in listening to the Secretariat's problems. As he had. said at the opening meeting, it was gratifying to note that all the Member governments in the Region were represented at this session • .;;
He had been
~ressed
with the great number of representatives of inter-
govenunental and non-governmental organizations present, many of whom had addressed the Committee. This was a proof of the growing interest which
these organizations had in the work of the Horld HeaJ_th Organization. Dr Dorolle personally thanked the Chairman of the Regional Committee and the Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Amendments to the Rules of Procedure and, on behalf of the Director-General, he thanked the Government of the Philippines once agaln for its continued hospitality to the •
Regional Office. The CHAIRMAN, on behalf of the Committee, extended its thanks to Dr Dorolle, and expressed its appreciation of his presence during the session of the Committee and of the advice given; would convey to the Director-General tp~
He hoped Dr Dorolle
best wishes of the Committee and
members for his continued work in the Organization
report to him
that health authorities in the Western Pacific Region were doing their best to improve the health conditions of the people of the various countries represented here. and happy landing.
He wished Dr Dorolle a safe journey back
The meeting adjourned at 12.15 p.m.