WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
ORGANISATION MONDIALE DE LA SANTE
REGIONAL OFFICE FOR
THE WESTERN PACIFIC
BUREAU R~GIONAL DU PACIFIQUE OCCIDENTAL
REGIONAL COMMITTEE Thirty-seventh session Manila 15-19 September 1986 Provisional agenda item 17
WPR/RC37/14 4 July 1986 ORIGINAL: ENGLISH
SELECTION OF TOPIC FOR THE TECHNICAL DISCUSSIONS IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE THIRTY-EIGHTH SESSION OF THE REGIONAL COMMITTEE Report by the Regional Director
In this document the Regional Director presents possible topics for the Technical Discussions to be held in conjunction with the thirty-eighth session of the Regional Committee in I 987. Attention is also drawn to the subject selected for the Technical Discussions at the Fortieth World Health Assembly in 1987.
WPR/RC37 /I 4 page 2
The Regional Committee, at its thirty-third session in 1982, decided that Technical Discussions in a modified form should henceforth be held in conjunction with sessions of the Regional Committee instead of a Technical Presentation.! "Changes in education for national health manpower for the twenty-first century" is the topic of the Technical Discussions to be held in conjunction with the thirty-seventh session. The Committee may wish to consider the following suggestions for the topic for Technical Discussions in 198 7.
1.
COMMUNITY-BASED REHABILITATION OF DISABLED PERSONS
It is estimated that there are more than 100 mi1Jion disabled people in the Region, a large number of whom are in need of rehabilitation services. At its thirty-sixth session, the Regional Committee took note of World Health Assembly resolution WHA38.18 on prevention of disabiHty and rehabilitation of the disabled, which requested WHO and the Member States to take further action at regional level. Since the International Year of Disabled Persons (1981}, much has been done by WHO and its Member States in the Region to promote the development of rehabilitation services: regional workshops on the national planning of rehabilitation and disability prevention and on training of community health and welfare workers in rehabilitation and disability prevention were held in November I 983 and January 1984 respectively; a regional working group on rehabilitation and disability prevention met in Manila in September I 984; and community-based rehabilitation projects are now being developed in a number of countries, including China, Fiji, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines. Efforts now need to be intensified to foster the community-based rehabilitation services in other fvtember States. development of
2.
INFORMATICS TECHNOLOGY AND HEALTH MANAGEMENT
Informatics is the cornerstone of information management and consequently plays a pivotal role in health systems management. The application of informatics technology, therefore, is vital to the improvement of our capacity to manage the resources of the health system. Information system support through informatics in support of the managerial process falls into two closely interrelated areas: first, the
lsee resolution WPR/RC33.R20, Handbook of Resolutions and Decisions of the WHO Regional Committee for the Western Pacific, Vol. II. 5th ed., 1986, page 161.
WPR/RC37 fl 4 page 3
operation and expansion of \\IHO's information systems in regard to both management of WHO programmes and international exchange of health inteJJigence and experience; second, direct support to Member States in developing greater capacity for planning, monitoring and evaluating their health system operations. Discussion of this topic could contribute to better understanding, planning and implementation of the informatics programme, which should be able to balance the need for advanced informatics technology with a country's capacity to absorb new methods and equipment.
3.
COtvlMUNJCA TJON AND HEALTH
Health education, as understood by \lHO, has traditionally been directed towards the health worker and his clients, namely, the patient or consumer of health services. Health educators have therefore focused their efforts on training health workers in educating their clients about health matters. The object of this is to ensure that, in the course of contacts between health worker and client, the former will have the necessary skills to inform and advise the client about health matters and thereby induce the necessary behavioural changes so as to facilitate acceptance of health care. This is a slow process but obviously a necessary part of any health system. More recentJy, experience has been gained in a more aggressive approach to communicating health information to the public, which depends on the use of communication methods, such as the mass media, to inform and motivate the public regarding its health and to induce appropriate behavioural changes. This approach borrows many of its techniques from advertising and is often calJed social marketing. Essentially, the product to be marketed, that is, the health message and the desired behavioural change, is developed and then promoted, using aU the techniques of modern commercial advertising. This approach to communication has been shown to be very effective in promoting health activities to the public, and it is felt that Member States should be made fuJJy aware of the potential returns to be gained from investment in this area.
****
Representatives may, of course, wish to suggest other topics for the Regional Committee to consider.
**** The subject selected by the Executive 11oard for the Technical Discussions at the Fortieth World Health Assembly in 1987 is "Economic strategies to support the strategies for health for alJ".