WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
ORGANISATION MONDIALE DE LA SANTE
REGIONAL OFFICE FOR THE WESTERN PACIFIC BUREAU REGIONAL DU PACIFIQUE OCCIDENTAL
REGIONAL COMMITTEE Sixtieth session Manila, Philippines 21-25 September 2009 Agenda item 15
WPR/RC60/NGO/17 24 September 2009 ORIGINAL: ENGLISH
STATEMENT BY THE SECRETARIAT OF THE PACIFIC COMMUNITY By Mr Bill Par Thank you for the opportunity to address the 60 th session of the W orId Health Organization Regional Committee for the Western Pacific. I am the Director of Social Resources Division in the Secretariat of the Pacific Community,. SPC is an international inter-government agency mandated to provide technical assistance to our 22 Pacific Island Countries and Territories. It works across multiple sectors, including those of agriculture and fisheries, education, women, youth, culture, water and sanitation and of course public health. Mr Chairperson, SPC in close collaboration with the World Health Organization has been assisting Pacific Island countries and territories to implement the Pacific Framework for the prevention and control of Non-communicable diseases. SPC and WHO have joined forces in a two organizationsone team approach to gain synergies from the partnership that would otherwise not be maximized if we worked independent of each other. The principles of the partnership are contained in a Memorandum of Understanding that was signed by both organizations one year ago immediately ahead of the 59th session of the Regional Committee. Mr Chairperson, I am pleased to report that the relationship between both organizations continues to strengthen, with a more harmonized approach at country level being one evidence of this.
To date, six Pacific Island countries have fully integrated national NCD plans in place and are using funding made available through our donor partners, Australia and New Zealand to support the implementation of these plans in their respective countries, while a number of other countries and territories are in the process of finalizing their plans. Both the WHO and SPC are supporting implementation through the provision of capacity building. Weare most grateful to our donor partners for their strong support and commitment to this programme. Mr Chairperson, in the Pacific we need to recognize the scourge of non-communicable diseases for what it is - a public health emergency, and to develop an increased sense of alarm and urgency over what are for the most part, preventable diseases and illness. Indeed, one of our countries in the Pacific has the second highest age adjusted mortality rate from NCD's in the world. Much more work needs to be done to reduce preventable NCD risk factors. We need a better understanding of what the social drivers are that result in our people making unhealthy choices with respect to food and drinks that have high sugar and fat content. We need much stronger policies and legislation in place to provide incentives to return to traditional, more healthy food as opposed to imported food and drink items. While there is a need to promote activity, people are what they eat, and it is our belief that by
WPRlRC60INGO/17
page 2
addressing issues relating to food quality, that early gains can be made in the fight against NCD's, while modifying people's lifestyle choices will take longer. The WHO, other UN agencies and SPC, together with the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat are collaborating together to assist countries and territories to host national multi-sectoral food security summits during the second half of2009 and the beginning of2010. SPC has committed its resources and technical staff working in multiple sectors to assist and ensure the success of these national summits. These summits will inform and contribute towards a high level regional Food Summit planned for the first half of 20 10, which will bring together senior officials from the ministries of health, agriculture, fisheries and trade to deliberate on the whole issue of food security. It is our expectation from the summit, that a food security declaration will be submitted to the highest political leaders of our region for their deliberations and hopefully, endorsement next year. Non-communicable diseases is a public health emergency in our region. It is non-selective in terms of who it impacts. Diabetes, obesity, strokes and cardio-vascular disease are affecting the quality oflife across all generations including children, and is responsible for premature deaths and is placing a heavy burden on health systems and health budgets because of the high rates of hospital admissions associated with NCD's. It is only by adopting inter-sectoral approaches and working in partnership with other sectors that we will being to turn the tide on non-communicable diseases in our region. Mr Chairperson, the Secretariat of the Pacific Community reaffmns its commitment to work in a spirit
of true partnership with the World Health Organization to address health issues in the Pacific Island Countries and Territories, and to apply its resources to contribute towards the implementation of the Regional NCD Framework and other regional strategies and action plans that have been endorsed through this, or earlier sessions of the Regional Committee. We are working, and continue to strengthen our collaboration with WHO in a range of initiative including health systems strengthening, the development of health human resource capacity, laboratories, combating HIV IAIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other communicable diseases, and are increasingly aligning our own work programmes to endorsed regional strategies and action plans. We wish to acknowledge the Regional Director, Dr Shin Y oung-soo and staff of WPRO and the Pacific office for their efforts in ensuring that our partnership works for the achievement of improved health outcomes in the lives of the peoples of the Pacific region. I can think of no better evidence of that partnership than our demonstrated ability during the dinner function last evening kindly hosted by the Minister of Health, China when we sang with one voice, and one tune together as a team!