WPRlRC57/SRJ8
SUMMARY RECORD OF THE EIGHTH MEETING (Lower NZI, Aotea Centre, Auckland Convention Centre) Friday, 22 September 2006 at 09:00 CHAIRPERSON: Honourable Pete Hodgson (New Zealand) CONTENTS page 1.
Coordination of the work of the World Health Assembly, the Executive Board and the Regional Committee ................................................... . Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction: Membership of the Policy and Coordination Committee .......................................... .. Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases: Membership of the Joint Coordinating Board .................................................................................................. . Consideration of draft resolutions .............................................................................. . 4.1 Regional Strategy on Human Resources for Health ......................................................................................................... Prevention and control ofHNIAIDS, towards Universal Access .............................................................................................
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4.2
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Time and place ofthe fifty-eighth and fifty-ninth sessions of the Regional Committee ......................................................... . Closure of the session ............................................................................................... .
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COORD INA nON OF THE WORK OF THE WORLD HEAL TH ASSEMBLY, THE EXECUTIVE BOARD AND THE REGIONAL COMMITTEE: Item 17 of the Agenda (Document WPRlRC57!12) The acting REGIONAL DIRECTOR, introducing document WPRlRC57112, said that it referred to
resolutions adopted by the Fifty-ninth World Health Assembly that were of particular significance for the Western Pacific Region. The resolutions themselves were attached to the document. He drew the attention of the Committee to the operative paragraphs, which related to activities Member States in the Region could undertake to implement the resolutions. Resolution WHA59.21 on infant and young child nutrition was important for the Western Pacific Region because it recognized the key role of infant and young child feeding, as well as the need to renew the commitment of Member States to implement the International Code of Marketing Breastmilk Substitutes. The resolution also recognized the need to revitalize the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative. He urged the Committee to ensure that those important WHO and UNICEF initiatives on child survival were being fully implemented. The Fifty-ninth World Health Assembly had also adopted resolution WHA59.24, which urged Member States to prioritize research and development action to address the needs of patients, especially those in resource-poor settings. The resolution also urged Member States to harness collaborative
research and development initiatives. In addition, it had established an intergovernmental working group to develop a global strategy and plan of action to follow-up the recommendations of the Commission on Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation and Public Health, with a focus on research and development for diseases disproportionately affecting the poor. Given the time frame set for the first progress report of the intergovernmental working group, its first meeting would likely take place from 4 to 9 December 2006, and would focus initially on procedural issues. Membership of the intergovernmental working group was open to all Member States. It was important that the Western Pacific Region be adequately represented and that developing countries from the Region participate, including those countries with limited research capacity. "VISION 2020: the Right to Sight" had been launched in 1999 as a partnership between WHO and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness to eliminate avoidable blindness by 2020 and to halt and reverse the projected doubling of avoidable visual impairment globally between 1990 and 2020. The VISION 2020 Monitoring Committee had held its first meeting in January 2006, and had reviewed the achievements, opportunities and limitations in implementation of VISION 2020. As a result of that review, resolution WHA59.25 had been adopted. The resolution did not require the Regional Committee to take specific action, but urged Member States to implement national plans for the elimination of
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preventable blindness using domestic funding to procure established and affordable technologies. The WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific had supported those plans in various ways.
Dr Mitsuko IMAl (Japan) said that her country appreciated the efforts of the WHO Commission on Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation and Public Health that had gone into the preparation of the report; she made particular mention of the annex that presented the different views and perspectives of the members of the Commission. Japan would participate actively in the intergovernmental working group that would be formed to develop a global strategy and plan of action to provide a medium-term framework for securing an enhanced and sustainable basis for needs-driven, essential health research and development relevant to diseases disproportionately affecting developing countries. At the invitation of the CHAIRPERSON, statements were made by representatives of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, the World Council of Optometry, Christian Blind Mission International, Orbis International, and the International Federation of Ophthalmological Societies. 2. SPECIAL PROGRAMME OF RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND RESEARCH TRAINING IN HUMAN REPRODUCTION: MEMBERSHIP OF THE POLICY AND COORDINATION COMMITTEE: Item 19 of the Agenda (Document WPRJRC57/14) The acting REGIONAL DIRECTOR explained that the Policy and Coordination Committee, which was the governing body of the WHO Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction, had a total of 32 members under four categories. Category 1 included the largest financial contributors; category 2 was made up of countries elected by the WHO regional committees; category 3 consisted of other interested Cooperating Parties; and category 4 included Permanent Members. Under category 2, 14 Member States were elected by the WHO regional committees. The Western Pacific Region was entitled to elect three members. The Member States from the Region currently serving on the Committee were the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia and Singapore. The three-year term of office of the Lao People's Democratic Republic would expire on 31 December 2006. The Regional Committee was therefore requested to elect one Member State, whose three-year term would start on 1 January 2007. Due consideration should be given to a Member State's fmancial or technical support to the Special Programme and its interest in the. field of human reproduction, as reflected in its national policies and programmes. The Committee met annually and the next annual meeting was tentatively scheduled for 27 and 28 June 2007 at WHO Headquarters in Geneva.
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The Regional Committee might wish to select the Republic of Korea as a member of the Policy and Coordination Committee. It was so decided (see decision WPRlRCS7(2)).
3.
SPECIAL PROGRAMME FOR RESEARCH AND TRAINING IN TROPICAL DISEASES: MEMBERSHIP OF THE JOINT COORDINATING BOARD: Item 20 of the Agenda (Document WPRlRC57/15) The acting REGIONAL DIRECTOR informed the Committee that paragraph 2.2.2 of the
Memorandum of Understanding on the Administrative and Technical Structures of the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Dliseases provided for the selection by each of the WHO regional committees of two Member States to serve as members of the Joint Coordinating Board from among those directly affected by the diseases dealt with by the Special Programme. or from among those providing technical or scientific support to the Special Programme. The two Member States of the Western Pacific Region currently serving on the Board were Mongolia and the Philippines. The threeyear term of the representative designated by Mongolia would end on 31 December 2006. The date of the thirtieth session of the Joint Coordinating Board would be conveyed to Member States in due course. The Regional Committee might wish to select Viet Nam to serve on the Joint Coordinating Board from I January 2007. It was so decided (see decision WPRlRC57(3»
4.
CONSIDERATION OF DRAFT RESOLUTIONS The Committee considered the following draft resolutions.
4.1
Regional Strategy on Human Resources for Health 2006-2015 (Document WPRlRC57/Conf.Paper No.7) Decision: The draft resolution was adopted (see resolution WPRlRC57.R7).
4.2
Prevention and control ofHIV/AIDS, towards universal access (Document WPRlRC57/Conf.Paper No.8) The CHAIRPERSON reported that the delegation of the United States of America had submitted a
number of wide-ranging amendments to the draft resolution, which were distributed to all Member States. During an informal discussion involving several Member States, including Australia, New Zealand and the United States of America, the amendments had been found to be unacceptable by some of the delegations and in the Chairperson's view they would not be acceptable to many other delegations.
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The delegation of the United States of America, for its part, did not wish to withdraw the amendments. He therefore proposed that the draft resolution be withdrawn. The acting REGIONAL DIRECTOR said that resolutions adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, the World Health Assembly and the Regional Committee guided the work of WHO in the Region. The work of the Regional Office with respect to HN / AIDS would continue in the absence of a resolution. In response to a query from Ms GIDLOW (Samoa), he said that, although it would have been preferable to have a resolution, the absence of a resolution would have no implications for work on HN / AIDS in the Region
Decision: The draft resolution was withdrawn. 5. TIME AND PLACE OF THE FIFTY-EIGHTH AND FIFTY-NINTH SESSIONS OF THE REGIONAL COMMITTEE (Item 21 of the Agenda) The acting REGIONAL DIRECTOR reminded the Committee that, at its fifty-sixth session in 2005, it had decided to accept the kind invitation of the Government of the Republic of Korea to act as host for the fifty-eighth session of the Committee in 2007. He requested the representative of the Republic of Korea to confirm his country's kind invitation. Dr OH (Republic of Korea) confirmed to the Committee that the Republic of Korea would host the
fifty-eighth session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Western Pacific on Jeju Island, Republic of Korea. He informed the Committee that Jeju offered a beautiful blend of Asian and Pacific island cultures, in which all Member States could meet in order to promote health and prevent diseases in the Region. He then showed a video of Jeju Island. The acting REGIONAL DIRECTOR proposed the dates of the session, which had to take account of the dates of all six regional committee sessions, both to enable the Director-General to attend at least part of each one, and to allow time for the discussions of all the regional committees to be reflected in the documentation for the Executive Board meeting in January. He therefore proposed the dates of 10 to 14 September 2007 as the dates of the fifty-eighth session of the Regional Committee. The acting REGIONAL DIRECTOR informed the Committee that the fifty-ninth session would be held at the Regional Office in Manila. Decision: The draft resolution was adopted (see resolution WPRlRC57.R8)
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6.
CLOSURE OF THE SESSION Ms GIDLOW (Samoa), speaking on behalf of all representatives present at the fifty-seventh
session of the Regional Committee, proposed a resolution of appreciation, expressing thanks and appreciation to the Government of New Zealand for its hospitality and the excellent facilities that had been provided. She also thanked the Chairperson and other elected officers, the acting Regional Director and the Regional Office staff for their hard work. Decision: The draft resolution was adopted (see resolution WPRlRC57.R9) The acting REGIONAL DIRECTOR thanked the: Government of New Zealand for its exceptional hospitality and the excellent facilities it had provided. The CHAIRPERSON expressed his thanks to all those involved in the session, and declared the fifty-seventh session of the Regional Committee closed. The meeting rose at 11: 18