WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
ORGANISATION MONDIALE DE LA SANTE
REGIONAL OFFICE FOR THE WESTERN PACIFIC BUREAU REGIONAL DU PACIFIQUE OCCIDENTAL
REGIONAL COMMITTEE Sixty-fifth session Manila, Philippines 13–17 October 2014 Agenda item 13
WPR/RC65/NGO/2 15 October 2014 ORIGINAL: ENGLISH
STATEMENT BY THE HANDICAP INTERNATIONAL Handicap International (HI) is an independent and impartial aid organization working in situations of poverty and exclusion, conflict and disaster. Operating in around 60 countries worldwide, we work alongside people with disabilities and vulnerable populations. In the Western Pacific Region, HI implements programmes in Cambodia, China, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Philippines and Vietnam. Recommendations relating to specific agenda items: Emergencies and disasters WPR/RC65/9 HI supports an improved focus on health in emergencies and disasters but is concerned to note the limited attention to physical and functional rehabilitation in the proposed document. Responding to the Typhoon Haiyan in Philippines in Nov 2014, we noted the clear need for early response and detection for people with disabilities. Where needs go unmet, a much heavier burden on the health system in the longer term is created. We further urge improved language on inclusive disaster risk management, more specifically within the Post Hyogo Framework, to ensure that persons with disabilities are involved within all four phases of the cycle. Progress reports on technical programmes WPR/RC65/10 Noncommunicable Diseases HI is pleased to note progress in addressing NCDs and the region’s commitment to this issue. We encourage uptake of services to support people across the continuum of care and noting that 8 out of the top 10 causes for years lived with disability are NCD related1 Violence and Injury Prevention HI is pleased to note the region’s contributions to global road safety initiatives and would like to enhance the importance of interventions towards decreasing road crashes and their impact on public health. Investment across a range of road safety actions is imperative to achieve a decline in deaths and disabilities including community awareness, prevention messages, and research and data collection. 1 Data taken from 2010 Global Burden of Disease for the World Bank: East Asia and Pacific region, available at http://vizhub.healthdata.org/irank/arrow.php
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Universal Health Coverage HI notes and supports the particular focus on elderly persons in improving equity in access to quality health services. We encourage a similar emphasis on persons with disabilities who often experience barriers in accessing health services. Further, we urge the improved availability of rehabilitation services– defined as a component of UHC. HI has adopted the UHC frameworks to examine its own work relating to these services, but no indicators in the guiding document currently relate provision of such services.