21–25 October 2013 Manila, Philippines
WPR/RC64/DJ/2 22 October 2013
Contents I. II. III. Programme of work Report of meetings Other meetings …………………………………………………………………... …………………………………………………………………... …………………………………………………………………... 2 2 7
Other information Venue Distribution of documents Conference Hall, Regional Office for the Western Pacific Representatives are kindly requested to collect daily their documents, messages and invitations at their designated mailboxes. The meeting will be held daily immediately after the afternoon session at 17:15 in Room 321. The Regional Office has an Internet lounge along the corridor next to Room 212, adjacent to the Conference Hall on the second level. WHO publications and other information products are on sale in Room 210-C. Please ensure your ID card is displayed at all times while on WHO premises. Kindly contact the WHO Security Officer, Mr Paul Carlson, should you have any concerns at +63 2 528-9608 (landline) or +63 920 963-5457 (mobile). There is a no smoking policy on WHO premises. Likewise, smoking is prohibited in public areas in Metro Manila.
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I. PROGRAMME OF WORK Agenda items 4 9 09:00–12:00 Address by the incoming Chairperson Programme budget 2012–2013: budget performance (interim report) Proposed programme budget 2014–2015 WPR/RC64/3
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WPR/RC64/4 WPR/RC64/4 Add. 1
Agenda items 12
14:00–17:00 Ageing and health Panel discussion: Ageing and health Plenary discussion WPR/RC64/6
II. REPORT OF MEETINGS (MONDAY, 21 OCTOBER 2013) First meeting Chairperson: Associate Professor Dr Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, Minister of Health, Viet Nam Later: Dr Leao Talalelei Tuitama, Minister of Health, Samoa Item 1. Opening of the session The Chairperson declared the sixty-fourth session of the Regional Committee for the Western Pacific open. Item 2. Address by the outgoing Chairperson The outgoing Chairperson, Associate Professor Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, Minister of Health, Viet Nam, thanked the Regional Committee for the honour of having been chosen to chair its sixty-third session last year in Hanoi. The Minister praised the Western Pacific Region for being among the first in the United Nations system to introduce changes to improve accountability, fairness and transparency in its work, including in the election of its most senior official, the Regional Director. She reviewed important decisions taken at last year’s session in Hanoi on management reforms and governance, which she said demonstrate the dynamic nature of the Organization. She said the Region has made important strides in public health over the past year and drew special attention to China and Cambodia for their swift and effective responses to H7N9 and H5N1, respectively. She also praised Member States for improved national capacities to address emerging and re-emerging diseases. She warned that economic uncertainty threatens the integrity and effectiveness of the Region’s health systems.
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Citing progress in her own country, the Minister said Viet Nam had invested in human resources for health in an effort to better manage emerging health problems, public health events and emergencies. She said a side session on universal health care organized at last year’s session informed a revision of Viet Nam’s health insurance law. She noted progress on Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 and the challenges that remain with MDG 6, particularly drug-resistant TB and artemisinin-resistant malaria. The Minister emphasized the issue of health equity and discussed the link between poverty and health, highlighting changes to her country’s grassroots health-care network, with a strengthened health delivery system based on primary health care. She said the post-2015 development agenda must emphasize health equity and universal health coverage as necessary for sustainable development. Discussing noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), she reported that Viet Nam joined the nine other Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in endorsing the Bandar Seri Begawan Declaration on Noncommunicable Diseases in ASEAN. She thanked Dr Margaret Chan, WHO Director-General, for effectively leading an Organization that is a respected leader in health and a dependable and credible partner for global health. And she thanked Dr Shin Young-soo, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific, and his team for the support they have provided in helping Member States make significant progress in public health. She also congratulated Dr Shin for his efforts in transforming the Conference Hall and Regional Office facilities into a more pleasant and work-friendly environment. Item 3. Election of incoming officers: Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson and Rapporteurs The Regional Committee elected the following officers: Chairperson: Dr Leao Talalelei Tuitama, Minister of Health, Samoa Vice-Chairperson: Dr Udval Natsag, Minister of Health, Mongolia Rapporteurs: In English: Dr Fran McGrath, Acting Director of Public Health, Ministry of Health, New Zealand In French: Dr Jean-Paul Grangeon, Director, Department of Health, New Caledonia Item 5. Adoption of the agenda The provisional agenda was adopted by the Regional Committee as amended. (WPR/RC64/1/Rev.1) Item 6. Address by the Director-General Dr Margaret Chan, WHO Director-General, thanked the Regional Committee for the opportunity to address Member States and cited the many public health successes in the Western Pacific Region. She noted that despite the Region’s diversity, Member States were united in their commitment to public health and helping one another. She congratulated the Region for maintaining its polio-free status, increasing coverage of antiretroviral therapy for people living with HIV, remaining on track to meet the Millennium Development Goal for a reduction in tuberculosis, and continuing to see a drop in malaria cases and deaths.
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She praised the Western Pacific for being the first WHO region to develop a draft action plan for newborn infants. She wholeheartedly supported a trend reflected in the action plan—the use of very simple, cost-effective interventions to save lives. The Director-General cited the response to the outbreak of H7N9 in China earlier this year as an example of the effectiveness of the International Health Regulations and praised China for it vigilance, rapid action and openness in sharing information on the outbreak. Dr Chan congratulated the Region for having the world’s highest coverage of hepatitis B vaccine and cited the ambitious new goal the Regional Committee will consider this week. She also drew attention to the benefits of integrated health service delivery, which promotes a wide variety of positive health outcomes from improved child and maternal health to reduced mother-to-child transmission of HIV and congenital syphilis. Dr Chan also praised the Regional Committee for focusing on noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and ageing populations. She drew particular attention to the NCD situation in the Pacific islands and diabetes in China, which has a diabetes prevalence of 12% among adults. While acknowledging that WHO will never be on “speaking terms” with the tobacco industry, she held out hope for collaboration on NCDs with the food, beverage and alcohol industries as long as they do not attempt to influence negatively standards and policies and their behaviour is closely monitored. The Director-General also reminded Member States that health must have a place at the negotiating table with ministers of trade and finance. Dr Chan offered her full support for the draft framework for action on healthy ageing, pointing out that age-friendly primary care must be the entry point for a continuum of care for people over the age of 60. Finally the Director-General praised the Region for taking the lead in 2008 in establishing universal health care as a goal that should guide the strengthening of health systems. She said the Region’s recent review of six regional health systems strategies represents the kind of analysis the Organization needs, particularly in this time of reform. She said the review’s finding that the six strategies request Member States to monitor 122 indicators is simply too much, and must be simplified. The Director-General said she was heartened to find that countries place a high value on the hands-on expertise of WHO staff in the regional and country offices. This, she said, is WHO at its best. Interventions were made by representatives of the following Member States: China, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore. Replying to comments by delegates, the Director-General said that WHO is always happy to provide technical support, but it is incumbent upon governments to show leadership by addressing health issues from an intersectoral perspective, for example by ratifying and implementing the provisions of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and pursuing public health education programmes that ensured prevention is the cornerstone of response. Again, it is the responsibility of governments to decide what subjects should or should not be included in trade negotiations, but at the same time they should never lose sight of the health perspective. Universal health coverage models would necessarily differ from one state to the next, but the important thing is that they are responsive to evolving needs. Such schemes should be characterized by solidarity and equity, meaning that no one should be denied access to treatment. At the same time however, the cost of health care, and the manner in which it was funded, needed to be apparent to people.
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Item 7.
Nomination of the Regional Director (private meeting) The meeting was held in a private session from 11:00 to 12:00.
Second meeting Chairperson: Dr Leao Talalelei Tuitama, Minister of Health, Samoa Item 7. Nomination of the Regional Director (private meeting) (cont.) The continuation of the private meeting ran from 13:45 to 15:15, and the public session resumed at 15:30. At the public session at the request of the Chairperson, the Director-General read aloud the resolution that had just been adopted by the Regional Committee in private session. The resolution, in consideration of Article 52 of the WHO Constitution and in accordance with Rule 51 of the Regional Committee’s Rules of Procedure, nominated Dr Shin Young-soo as the Regional Director for the Western Pacific and requested the Director-General to propose to the Executive Board the appointment of Dr Shin from 1 February 2014. The Chairperson congratulated Dr Shin on his nomination, saying he was the unanimous choice of Member States. The Director-General praised the fair and transparent nomination process and said she looked forward to continuing to work with such a reform-minded Regional Director. Item 8. Address by and Report of the Regional Director Dr Shin Young-soo, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific, thanked the Regional Committee for the Western Pacific for his nomination to a second term of office, saying he viewed the nomination as an affirmation of the work he and the WHO Secretariat have carried out in the Region in consultation with Member States. He also thanked WHO staff for their professionalism and dedication. Dr Shin reminded the representatives that they had received his formal report, The Work of WHO in the Western Pacific Region, and then offered highlights of the achievements over the past year. He said most Member States have reduced maternal and child mortality significantly and are on track to achieve Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5. He cited progress in addressing the noncommunicable disease (NCD) epidemic and noted that WHO and Member States have set voluntary targets as part of the global framework to monitor progress to curb NCDs. He pointed out that later this week the Regional Committee will consider a draft NCD action plan that aligns regional targets with the recently finalized global targets. The Regional Director said the Region is the only one with a growing number of health promotion organizations, most established during the past five years. He congratulated Member States that have increased tobacco taxes, introduced stronger warnings, formed smoke-free areas, and banned advertising, promotion and sponsorship by tobacco companies, citing Cook Islands, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Tonga and Viet Nam. Moving to communicable diseases, he said the Regional Committee later this week will discuss setting 2017 as the date for all Member States to achieve the goal of less than 1% seroprevalence for hepatitis B. He noted that Niue and Palau this year will confirm elimination of lymphatic filariasis and that nine other countries and areas should follow over the next three years.
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Dr Shin also noted considerable progress in the fight against measles and tuberculosis, and for increased access to HIV diagnosis and treatment. In the area of health systems, he cited the recent review of regional health system strategies, saying it would guide future WHO work in this area. He said universal health coverage will be the main priority for many Member States in coming years. He also cited support to Member States, particularly in the Pacific, on health workforce issues. The Regional Director said the Division of Pacific Technical Support, or DPS, based in Suva, Fiji, has made a difference in the Pacific and now handles four out of five requests for assistance by Pacific island countries and areas that once relied on the Regional Office in Manila. Dr Shin also praised the work of the Emergency Operations Centre at the Regional Office which coordinates WHO technical support to countries for emergency and disaster response. He noted that this year marked his fifth annual report to the Regional Committee and came at a time when the global public health landscape is rapidly changing. He listed five principles that would guide the Secretariat over the next five years: 1) the Organization must be people-centred and country-needs oriented; 2) it should build on successes and tackle emerging challenges while continuing to address unfinished business; 3) it must be flexible and adaptable; 4) it must continue to break down boundaries and engage all actors in health and beyond health; and 5) it must more effectively manage both financial and human resources. The Regional Director said work in the coming years also would focus on finding better ways to deliver WHO support and on technical priorities. In closing, Dr Shin emphasized how grateful he was for the opportunity to work with Member States over the past five years and said he is eager to tackle the challenges of the next five years. Interventions were made by representatives of the following Member States (in order): the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Mongolia, China, Solomon Islands, Japan, Singapore, Australia, Samoa, France, Papua New Guinea, the Federated States of Micronesia, Cook Islands, the Republic of Korea, Brunei Darussalam, Viet Nam, the Philippines and the United States of America. The Regional Director thanked the representatives for their congratulations on his nomination and for their expression of support for his leadership and the work of the Secretariat. He thanked Member States for collegial way in which countries had worked with him and with the Secretariat over the previous five years. He also thanked his WHO colleagues. He expressed his readiness to tackle the tasks ahead. The Regional Director said that all of the concerns and suggestions that have been offered by the representatives have been noted and will be addressed by the Secretariat.
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III. OTHER MEETINGS Tuesday, 22 October 2013
17:15 – onwards
Launch of Western Pacific Region Art Gallery (Conference Hall)
Wednesday, 23 October 2013
12:00 – onwards 17:15 – onwards 17:30 – onwards
Launch of World Health Report (organized by WHO – Room 212) Informal Consultation with Member States (Conference Hall) GAVI Alliance – (Room 212)
Thursday, 24 October 2013
17:00 – onwards
Meeting: Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (organized by the Government of China, Conference Hall)
Friday, 25 October 2013
11:00 – onwards
Dialogue for partners coordination (Room 212)
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