WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
ORGANISATION MONDIALE DE LA SANT'
"EGIONAL OFFICE PO" THE WESTE"N PACIFIC BU"EAU "~GIONAL DU PACifiQUE OCCIDENTAL
REGIONAL COMMITTEE Twenty-third Session Guam 27 September - 5 October 1972 ANNOTATED AGENDA 1
WPR/RC23/l-a 6 September 1972 ORIGINAL: ENGLISH
FORMAL OPENING OF THE TWENTY-THIRD SESSION OF THE REGIONAL COMMITTEE
As the formal opening is being arranged by the Host Government, details regarding the arrangements made will be provided to Representatives on their arrival in Guam. 2 ADDRESS BY RETIRING CHAIRMAN
It is customary for the retiring Chairman to deliver a short address at the opening meeting of each session of the Regional Committee. 3 ELECTION OF NEW OFFICERS: CHAIRMAN, VICE-CHAIRMAN AND RAPPORTEURS
The officers of the 1969, 1970 and 1971 meetings were: Twentieth session - 1969 Chairman Vice-Chairman Rapporteur (in English) Rapporteur (in French) Twenty-first session - 1970 Chairman Vice-Chairman Rapporteur (in English) Rapporteur (in French) Twenty-second session - 1971 Chairman Vice-Chairman Rapporteur (in English) Rapporteur (in French) Dr Tran-Minh-Tung (Viet-Nam) Dr So Satta (Khmer Republic) Dato (Dr) Abdul Majid bin Ismail (Malaysia) Dr Phouy Phoutthasak (Laos) /4 ADDRESS BY ••• Dr Dr Dr Dr Khamphai Abhay (Laos) Myung Hwa Lee (Republic of Korea) J. Azurin (Philippines) Nguyen Dang Que (Viet-Nam) Medecin-General J. Rondet (France) Dr Phouy Sunthorn (Laos) Dr C.H. Gurd (United Kingdom) Dr Diego Hora Silva Ferreira (Portugal)
WPR/RC23/1-a page 2 4 ADDRESS BY THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL OR HIS REPRESENTATIVE
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ADDRESS BY INCOMING CHAIRMAN
It is customary for the incoming Chairman to give a brief address to the Committee. It is, however, not essential for the address to be given at this point of the agenda. This may, should the incoming Chairman wish, be postponed to a time later in the session. 6 ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA (Document WPR/RC23/l Rev.l)
According to Rule 9 of the Rules of Procedure of the Regional Committee, "the Director may, in consultation with the Chairman, include any question suitable for the agenda which may arise or reach him up to twenty-one days before the opening day of the session, in a supplementary agenda which the Committee shall examine together with the provisional agenda. Any items arising or submitted later shall be included in a supplementary agenda provided that the Committe-e agrees". 7 TECHNICAL DISCUSSIONS
In accordance with the resolution adopted by the Regional Committee at its eleventh session,l the Regional Director, in consultation with the Chairman of the twenty-second session of the Regional Committee, has selected Mr R.R.L. Harcourt, Assistant Director (Environmental Health), Division of Public Health, New Zealand, as Chairman of the Technical Discussions. Three sessions have been set aside for the discussions: the after-noon of Friday, 29 September; the morning of Saturday, 30 September; and the morning of Monday, 2 October. 8 8.1 PROPOSED PROGRAMME AND BUDGET ESTIMATES FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR 1 JANUARY - 31 DECEMBER 1974 (Document WPR/RC23/2) Establishment of the Sub-Committee on Programme and Budget
The Committee, at its twenty-first session,2 decided that the membership of the Sub-Committee (established in accordance with resolution h'PR/RC7. R7, adopted by the Regional Committee at its seventh session) should "consist of half the Members 3 in the Region /plus the .•
lResolution WPR/RCll.Rll, WPR Handbook of Resolutions and Decisions, 1972, 7th ed., section 5.5.2 (8), page 23. 2Resolution WPR/RC2l.Rl, WPR Handbook of Resolutions and Decisions, 1972, 7th ed., section 3.4, page 31. 3"Half the Members" means that half an odd number would be the next higher full number - e.g., one half of 17 is 9.
WPR/RC23/l-a page 3 plus the Chairman of the Regional Committee and that it be rotated among the representatives of various Members, subject to the provision that any representative desiring to participate in the discussion of the Sub-Committee should be entitled to do so." Membership of the Sub-Committee - 1969 Australia, China (Taiwan), France (Chairman), Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, United Kingdom and Viet-Nam. Membership of the Sub-Committee - 1970 Khmer Republic, Laos (Chairman), Malaysia, Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, the United States of America and Western Samoa. Membership of the Sub-Committee - 1971 Australia, China (Taiwan), France, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, United Kingdom and Viet-Nam (Chairman). 8.2 Consideration of the report presented by the Sub-Committee on Programme and Budget
The report of the Sub-Committee will be discussed in plenary session on Wednesday, 4 October. 9 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN OF BRIEF REPORTS RECEIVED FROM GOVERNMENTS ON THE PROGRESS OF THEIR HEALTH ACTIVITIES
Governments may either submit short written reports in advance of the session or present their annual reports to the Committee. Reports received in sufficient time will be reproduced in English and French and distributed to all Representatives. The Chairman will make an announcement to acknowledge their receipt. 10 REPORT OF THE REGIONAL DIRECTOR (Document WPR/RC23/3)
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The Report presented to the Committee contains information on the health programmes in the Region assisted by WHO during the period 1 July 1971 to 30 June 1972. Representatives are invited to review the Report, section by section. Their comments will enable the Regional Director to obtain a clearer understanding of the needs of and problems facing governments and provide him with further guidance for the future. 11
RESOLUTIONS OF REGIONAL INTEREST ADOPTED BY THE TWENTY-FIFTH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY AND THE EXECUTIVE BOARD AT ITS FORTY-NINTH AND FIFTIETH SESSIONS (Document WPR/RC23/4)
Document WPR/RC23/4 contains the resolutions of regional interest adopted by the Twenty-fifth World Health Assembly and the Executive Board at its forty-ninth and fiftieth sessions. A short note has been added in connexion with the following resolutions as it was felt that the attention of the Committee should be specifically drawn to some of the operative paragraphs: /(a) Community ...
WPR/RC23/1-a page 4
(a)
Community Water Supply (resolution WHA2S.3S)
Operative paragraph 3 of the resolution contains six recommendations to Member States which, it is hoped, the Regional Committee will endorse. Recommendation (i) calls for the adoption of specific national targets for the United Nations Second Development Decade for both urban and rural water supplies. The revised targets endorsed by the Assembly are global in nature as conditions differ from country to country. It is suggested that the Regional Committee should set regional targets and that each country within the Region should then fix its own national targets as part of the regional programme. Recommendation (ii) emphasizes the importance of the systematic collection by Member States of data concerning community water supplies. Recommendation (iii) indicates the essential measures to be taken in order to meet national specific targets. In recommendation (iv) the Assembly draws attention to the special needs of the rural sector and urges Member countries to take the necessary steps to assign more resources to rural water supplies. Page 6 of the Director-Genera1's Report (document A2S/29) describes the great shortfall in the rural areas. Copies of this report will be provided to representatives attending the meeting. Recommendation (v) reaffirms the concern previously expressed by the World Health Assembly about proper provisions being made for the effective surveillance of drinking-water quality. The seventh pandemic of cholera underlines the urgency of implementing this recommendation. The last recommendation, (vi), emphasizes the need for hygienic waste water disposal measures along with the provision of water supplies. (b) (c) (d) Training of National Health Personnel (resolution WHA2S.42) Smallpox Eradication (resolution WHA2S.4S) Occupational Health Programmes (resolution WHA2S.63)
A separate document (WPR/RC23/S) has been prepared on this subject which will be discussed under item 12 of the agenda. (e) (f) Review of the Proposed Programme and Budget Estimates for 1973: Sessions of Regional Committees (resolution EB49.R14) Twenty-fifth Anniversary of the World Health Organization (resolution EBSO.R18)
Action is required by the Committee in connexion with (a) the designation of one or two speakers who will address the commemorative meeting of the Twenty-sixth World Health Assembly in May 1973, and (b) how it is to be celebrated at the session of the Regional Committee in 1973. /12 OCCUPATIONAL •.•
WPR/RC23/l-a page 5 12 OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH PROGRAMMES (Resolution WPR/RC22.R3) (Document WPR/RC23/5)
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Document WPR/RC23/5 contains a progress report on the action taken on resolution WPR/RC22.R3 which was adopted by the Regional Committee at its last session. Activities in this field are beginning to grow. Three national seminars on the organization of industrial health services for small industries will take place in the Philippines, the Republic of Korea and Singapore before the end of 1972. Two similar seminars are planned for 1974, one in Malaysia and the other in Fiji for countries and territories in the South Pacific which have expressed interest in participating in such a seminar. Fifteen governments have responded favourably to a proposal to organize a regional training programme in occupational health for public health administrators in 1974. Advisory services and fellowships are also planned to assist countries in developing or organizing occupational health services, in preparing national personnel for occupational health work, and in training the additional health personnel needed to meet the increasing demand in this field. Representatives are invited to give their views on how activities in this field might be expanded further. 13 DISINSECTION OF AIRCRAFT (Resolution WPR/RC22.R6) (Document WPR/RC23/6)
Document WPR/RC23/6 summarizes the action taken in connexion with resolution WPR/RC22.R6 adopted by the Regional Committee at its last session. By 30 June 1972, 23 countries and territories had submitted information on their present disinsection requirements and their attitude to vapour disinsection. Details are contained in the document prepared for this item on the agenda. The Committee will note that most countries and territories in the Region require aircraft disinsection on all international flights and that all of them will accept the vapour disinsection system should it be recommended. However, some governments have expressed concern as to the effectiveness of the "blocks-away" procedure. Representatives are invited to give their views on how to make this method more effective. ~f it is the opinion of the Committee as a whole that the vapour disinsection system should eventually be accepted, an appropriate resolution should be adopted. 14 DRUG DEPENDENCE (Resolution WPR/RC22.R7) (Document WPR/RC23/7)
Document WPR/RC23/7 contains a progress report on the action taken on resolution WPR/RC22.R7 which was adopted by the Regional Committee at its last session. The report also contains a short statement on the development of the United Nations Fund for Drug Abuse Control and on the inter-regional activities so far carried out by WHO. Possible fields of WHO assistance are described. The 1974 programme and budget estimates contain two proposals. The first, a working group on measures for the prevention and control of drug abuse and dependence, has been placed in the 1974 programme and budget estimates, the second, a working group on /health education •••
WPR/RC23/ I-a page 6 health education programmes for young people concerning drug abuse, has been placed in the List of Additional Projects and can only be implemented if savings arise. Representatives may wish to consider how information, research and training in this field can be strengthened. They may also wish to make statements on their own national efforts to prevent, control and treat drug abuse and drug dependence, and on present and future WHO-assisted activities in this field. 15 HEALTH CONSEQUENCES OF SMOKING (Resolution WPR/RC22.R9) (Document WPR/RC23/8) the action taken by a number of the health consequences of smoking. the recommendations made by the these with their own suggestions.
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Document WPR/RC23/8 summarizes governments in the Region to reduce The Committee is invited to discuss Regional Director and to supplement 16
WHO FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMME (Resolution WPR/RC22.Rll) (Document WPR/RC23/9)
Document WPR/RC23/9 contains a progress report on the action taken on resolution WPR/RC22.Rll which was adopted by the Regional Committee at its last session. The draft registry of training courses available for health personnel in the Western Pacific Region has been sent to those Member countries which offer training to fellows from abroad in either English or French. Some Japanese institutions have also been listed. As soon as the comments of the governments concerned have been received, copies of the final text will be sent to all countries and territories within the Region. 17 LONG-TERM PLANNING IN THE FIELD OF HEALTH, INCLUDING LONG-TERM FINANCIAL INDICATORS (Resolution WPR/RC22.R13) (Document WPR/RC23/l0)
The Regional Committee at its twenty-second session adopted on 24 September 1971 resolution WPR/RC22.Rl3 in which it expressed the hope that governments would prepare, or improve and update regularly, their national health development plans. The Committee also invited governments to convey to the Regional Director such information as they could on their plans, priorities and objectives for the period 1974-1978 in order to obtain a broad basis for determining desirable programme growth levels. The Regional Director was requested to assist governments in the preparation of the information required and to ensure that in preparing long-term projections and forecasts WHO activities were developed as international inputs to meet national needs. Surveys were made of national health development plans and priorities during the period 1974-1978 by means of a questionnaire prepared in the Regional Office. Document WPR/RC23/l0 summarizes the situation on national health planning in the Region and gives information on national priorities and objectives with estimates of national land external ••• '"
WPR/RC23/l-a page 7 and external assistance inputs under major programme headings. It also contains some observations derived from the available information which the Committee may wish to take into account in its consideration of this important field of national health endeavour. 18 REGIONAL ACTIVITIES IN ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION CONTROL (Resolution WPR/RC22.Rl5) (Document WPR/RC23/ll)
Document WPR/RC23/ll contains the second progress report on the subject. It describes (1) the fact-finding survey by a three-man consultant team in 1971; (2) the preparations for the first regional seminar on environmental pollution: air pollution, scheduled to be held in Manila in May 1973; (3) the WHO-assisted environmental pollution control activities carried out during the reporting period; and (4) the training programme in this field. Representatives may wish to comment on the conclusions of the consultant team. 19 COMPREHENSIVE AND CO-ORDINATED TEACHER TRAINING PROGRAMME FOR HEALTH PERSONNEL (Resolution WPR/RC22.Rl6) (Document WPR/RC23/l2)
Document WPR/RC23/l2 describes the further progress made in connexion with the establishment of a Regional Teacher Training Centre. Following discussions between staff members of the Regional Office and officials of the Government of Australia and of the University of New South wales, an agreement by exchange of letter was drawn up. The latest developments will be reported to the Committee during the discussion of this item. If negotiations come to a successful conclusion, the centre is expected to begin its training activities in 1973. A provision covering assistance to the centre in 1973 and 1974 is contained in the proposed programme and budget estimates. Information has just been received that the United Nations Development Programme is very interested in this centre and will also support it. 20 LONG-TERM INTER-COUNTRY PROGRAMME IN THE FIELD OF HEALTH LABORATORY SERVICES (Resolution WPR/RC22.Rl9) (Document WPR/RC23/l3)
Document WPR/RC23/l3 contains a progress report on the action taken on resolution WPR/RC22.R19 which was adopted by the Regional Committee at its l~st session. The Committee will note that the preparatory work in connexion with the publication of a directory of medical and allied laboratory services in countries and territories of the Western Pacific is well advanced. The text covering each country will be submitted to the government concerned fer approval before the directory is finalized in 1973. The document also contains information on the inter-country activities related to the production and control of freeze-dried smallpox vaccine and biologicals, and on plans to establish a regional network of laboratories for the diagnosis of smallpox. /21 WHO SERUM •••
WPR/RC23/1-a page 8 21 WHO SERUM REFERENCE BANK IN TOKYO (Document WPR/RC23/14)
This item has been placed on the agenda as it was felt that the Committee would be interested in learning about the WHO Serum Reference Bank which was established in Tokyo at the end of 1970. The specific objectives of the WHO Serum Reference Bank are described in section 2 of the document. The Committee will note that the Bank in Tokyo has now the staff and equipment, as well as the necessary organizational experience, to participate in international health programmes. A copy of the "Operational Guide for Users", which is intended to facilitate international co-operation, is annexed to the document prepared for this item on the agenda. One aspect of the future programme of the Bank in Tokyo to which considerable importance is attached is that of education and training. 22 STATEMENTS OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED NATIONS, THE SPECIALIZED AGENCIES, OF INTERGOVERNMENTAL AND NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS IN OFFICIAL RELATIONS WITH WHO
Representatives of the United Nations, the Specialized Agencies, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations in official relations with WHO, wishing to do so, will be invited to make statements on the morning of Wednesday, 4 October. 23 SELECTION OF TOPIC FOR THE TECHNICAL DISCUSSIONS DURING THE TWENTY-FOURTH SESSION OF THE REGIONAL COMMITTEE (Document WPR/RC23/15)
Document WPR/RC23/15 contains suggested topics for the Technical Discussions which will be held in connexion with the twenty-fourth session of the Regional Committee in 1973. The attention of the Committee is drawn to the fact that the Government of New Zealand has endorsed "The Role of the Hospital in the Community and the Financing of Hospital Based Medical Care" as a particularly appropriate topic from its point of view as the Royal Commission to Inquire into and Report Upon Hospital and Related Services will be sitting at the same time as the Committee meets in New Zealand. 24 CONSIDERATION OF THE REPORT PRESENTED BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE TECHNICAL DISCUSSIONS
The Chairman of the Technical Discussions will present the report on the Technical Discussions to the Committee at its plenary session on Wednesday morning, 4 October. The final report will be issued as document WPR/RC23/TD7. 25 TIME, PLACE AND DURATION OF THE TWENTY-FOURTH AND TWENTY-FIFTH SESSIONS OF THE REGIONAL COMMITTEE
The Committee, at its twenty-second session, accepted the invitation of the Government of New Zealand to hold its twenty-fourth session lin Wellington •••
WPR/RC23/l-a page 9 l in Wellington. The dates of the meeting will be from 28 August to 5 September 1973. Unless the Committee decides otherwise, the twenty-fifth session of the Regional Committee will be held in Manila in accordance with the past procedure that every second year the meeting will be held at regional headquarters. 26 ADOPTION OF THE DRAFT REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE
A summary of the discussions and the resolutions adopted will be incorporated into a final report for approval at the last plenary session. 27 ADJOURNMENT
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lResolution WPR/RC22.R27, WPR Handbook of Resolutions and Decisions, 1972, 7th ed •• section 5.3.2 (21), page 11.
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
ORGANISATION MONDIALE DE LA SANTf
REGIONAL OFFICE FOR THE WESTERN PACIFIC BUREAU RtGIONAL DU PACIFIQUE OCCIDENTAL
REGIONAL COMMITTEE Twenty-third Session Guam 27 September - 5 October 1972 ANNOTATED AGENDA Addendum 1
WPR/RC23/l-a Add.l 11 September 1972 ORIGINAL: ENGLISH
RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE REGIONAL COMMITTEE FOR THE WESTERN PACIFIC (USE OF CHINESE AS AN OFFICIAL LANGUAGE) (Document WPR/RC23/l6)
In accordance with Rule B(d) of the Rules of Procedure, the provisional agenda of each session shall include inter alia "any item proposed by the Director-General or the Director". The Director-General and the Regional Director wish to propose that the above item should be included on the agenda of the Committee. If the Committee decides to support this proposal, Rule 53 requires the establishment of a sub-committee on amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the Regional Committee for the Western Pacific.