WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
REGIONAL OFFICE FOR THE WESTERN PACIFIC BUREAU R~GIONAL DU PACIFIQUE OCCIDENTAL
•
ORGANISATIOJI MONDIALE DE LA SANT~
REGIONAL COMMITTEE Thirty-third session Manila 20-24 September 1982 Provisional agenda i tern 19
W PR/RC33fl7 12 August 1982 ORIGINAL: ENGLISH
TECHNICAL PRESENTATIONS: REVIEW OF THEIR USEFULNESS
Resolution WPR/R C32.R 18, adopted by the Regional Committee at its thirty-second session in 1981, requested the Regional Director to: "···· include on the agenda of the thirty-third session of the Regional Committee a review of whether technical presentations should be held in conjunction with sessions of the Regional Committee." . This document contains a short history of how the practice of holding technical discussions during the World Health Assembly and the Regional Committee evolved. It also presents a proposal with regard to the type of technical discussions (or presentation) that might be held, together with some suggestions for the topic in 1983, should the Regional Committee decide to continue the practice.
WPR/RC33f17 page 2
Resolution WPR/RC32.R18, adopted by the Regional thirty-second session in 1981, requested the Regional Director to:
Committee
at
its
"•••• include on the agenda of the thirty-third session of the Regional Committee a review of whether technical presentations should be held in conjunction with sessions of the Regional Committee." To aid the Committee in reaching a conclusion, a short history is given below of how, first, technical discussions and, later, a technical presentation came to be a regular feature during sessions of the Regional Committee. As early as 1950, the WHO Executive Board expressed the opm10n that "the technical proceedings of future Health Assemblies should progressively be concentrated on more thorough discussion of a small number of subjects, with a view to the application of existing knowledge in those fields to public health administration" and that it was "desirable that there should be more technical discussion on a number of specified subjects of international interest".! The opinions of Member States with regard to the proposal were sought, as a result of which the first technical discussions were held during the Fourth World Health Assembly in 1951. They proved to be so successful that the Health Assembly decided that technical discussions should take place at subsequent Health Assemblies, and the Executive Board, in resolution EB8.R24, invited "··· the regional committees to consider the advisability of holding technical discussions on matters of regional interest".2,3 It was as a result of resolution EB8.R24 that the first technical discussions were held during the third session of the Regional Committee for the Western Pacific in 1952, and thereafter they became a permanent feature of the annual sessions. 4 From that time on, until 19 57, the views expressed on the subject of technical discussions resulted in the adoption of a resolution at every session of the Executive Board and every World Health Assembly, except theEiithth in 1955. A review, nearly thirty years later, of the resolutions adopted gives the impression that, even at that early stage, opinion was divided on the number of subjects to be discussed, the duration of the technical discussions, when, during the Health Assembly, they should be held, and whether or not it would be of advantage for the regional committees to have preparatory discussions.
lsee resolution EB6.R37, Handbook of Resolutions and Decisions of the World Health Assembly and the Executive Board, Vol. I, 1972_, page 294. 2see resolution WHA4.9, Handbook of Resolutions and Decisions of the World Health Assembly and the Executive Board, Vol. I, 1973, page 295. 3see Handbook of Resolutions and Decisions of the World Health Assembly and the Executive Board, Vol. I, 1973, page 295. 4see resolution WPR/RC3.R14, Handbook of Resolutions and Decisions of the WHO Regional Committee for the Western Pacific, Vol. I, 1976, page 194.
WPR/RC33f17 page 3
In 1957, the present procedure and format for the technical discussions held during the World Health Assembly were established.! The Regional Committee for the Western Pacific more or less followed suit by (1) setting aside a specific period for a technical discussion during each annual session; and (2) selecting the topic in advance. Over the years the duration of the discussions changed and the early practice of arranging a concurrent field visit in connexion with the Regional Committee technical discussions was discontinued. In 1974, the Regional Committee for the Western Pacific, in conjunction with a discussion on the duration of the sessions of the Regional Committee and the usefulness of the technical discussions, feeling that they could be further oriented toward the particular interest of Member States of the Region, decided that "··· the Technical Discussions will henceforth be supplanted by Technical Presentations."2 Some representatives, nevertheless, had continued to support the idea of holding technical discussions as an opportunity for them to gather information which might not be available in their own countries. A technical presentation was held every year thereafter until, at the thirty-second session of the Regional Committee in September 1981, as mentioned above, again in conjunction with a discussion on the duration of the Regional Committee session itself, resolution WPR/RC32.Rl8 asking for a review of the usefulness of technical presentations was adopted. At the same session it was decided that the technical presentation at the thirty-third session of the Regional Committee should be held after the closure of the session so that those representatives who wished to depart could do so. The trend towards dispensing with any form of technical discussion was echoed at the sixty-ninth session of the Executive Board in January 1982 when it was recalled that some delegates at recent Health Assemblies had expressed the view that, while the technical discussions had served a useful purpose in the past when communication between Member States had been more difficult, the need for concerted action for "health for all" by the Health Assembly, and for achieving economies in time and cost, pointed to the desirability of reconsidering the practice of holding technical discussions during the Health Assembly. Up-to-date technical information now provided regularly through WHO publications could fulfil the need. Some members of the Board, however, continued to advocate the need for technical discussion on a number of subjects. The Executive Board and the World Health Assembly are to consider the matter again during their reviews in 1983 of the method of work of the Health Assembly.3
lsee resolution WHA10.33, Handbook of Resolutions and Decisions of the World Health Assembly and the Executive Board, Vol. I, 1973, page 299. 2see resolution WPR/RC25.Rl2, Handbook of Resolutions and Decisions of the WHO Regional Committee for the Western Pacific, Vol. I, 1976, page 204. 3see document EB69/1982/REC/l, Annex 5, page 87.
WPR/RC33/17 page 4
In reaching a decision on whether or not to dispense with any form of technical discussion during sessions of the Regional Committee, the Committee might wish to consider, should representatives wish the practice to continue, holding technical discussions or a technical presentation on a subject which, for political reasons, cannot be included on the agenda of the Regional Committee but which is of such technical interest that representatives would welcome the opportunity to exchange experience informally. Such a subject might be the use of traditional medicine in relation to primary health care. Should the Regional Committee reach the conclusion that the practice of holding a technical presentation or technical discussions should continue, the following topics might be considered for 1983: (1)
the role of traditional medicine in primary health care;
(2) health services in emergencies; (3)
health management information system development.
Contrary to its usual practice of selecting the topic of the technical discussions two years in advance, no decision was reached at the Thirty-fifth World Health Assembly in 1982 with regard to the topic for 1984, should they be held during the Thirty-seventh World Health Assembly. A list of the technical discussions and technical presentations held during sessions of the Regional Committee from 1952 to 1982 is attached as Annex 1. In 1970, the technical discussions scheduled to be held during the twenty-first session had to be postponed until the twenty-second session in 1971.
WPR/RC33/I 7 page 5 ANNEX I TECHNICAL DISCUSSION TOPICS 1952-1974
Year and session
Subject HEALTH SERVICES DEVELOPMENT
1953 (fourth session)
Health planning Public health administration with particular reference to the organization of health departments The organization and administration of rural health services Health planning as an administrative tool The role of the hospital in the community and the financing of hospital-based medical care FAMILY HEALTH
19 54 (fifth session)
1960 (eleventh session)
1968 (nineteenth session) 1973 (twenty-fourth session)
1955 (sixth session)
Domiciliary midwifery as an approach to the people in the development of rural health services Approach to and management pre-school child (from one to six) of the
1956 (seventh session)
1965 (sixteenth session)
The use of health education services in national health programmes The integration of maternal and child health and family planning activities in the general health services COMMUNICABLE DISEASES
1967 (eighteenth session)
1957 (eighth session)
Leprosy control Malaria control and eradication The control of tuberculosis The role of the local health servic:es in leprosy control
19 58 (ninth session) 1959 (tenth session) 19{?3 (fourteenth session)
WPR/RC33/17 Annex 1 page 6
Year and session 1969 (twentieth session) 1974 (twenty-fifth session)
Subject The planning and organization of a national epidemiological service Control of vector haemorrhagic fever ORAL HEALTH mosquitos of dengue
1961 (twelfth session)
Dental health ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
1962 (thirteenth session) 1966 (seventeenth session) 1972 (twenty-third session)
The role of the health services in the improvement of community water supplies The role of the health department environmental health services in
Environmental pollution problems and approach to their control in the Western Pacific Region HEALTH MANPOWER DEVELOPMENT
1952 (third session) 1971 (twenty-second session)
The education and training of medical and public health personnel Health manpower in developing countries: problems and needs (deferred from twenty-first session) HEALTH STATISTICS
1964 (fifteenth session)
The use of statistics administration
in
public
health
WPR/RC33/17 Annex 1 page 7
TECHNICAL PRESENTATION TOPICS 1975-1982
Year and session 1975 (twenty-sixth session)
Subject The control of tuberculosis in the Western Pacific Region Primary health care National drug policies and management Diarrhoeal diseases including typhoid and paratyphoid Acute respiratory infections Community involvement in the development of health services Health education and rural water supply and sanitation New policies for health education and information in support of health for all by the year 2000 cholera,
1976 (twenty-seventh session) 1977 (twenty-eighth session) 1978 (twenty-ninth session) 1979 (thirtieth session) 1980 (thirty-first session) 1981 (thirty-second session) 1982 (thirty-third session)