A global spotlight falls on Guam this week as representatives from 37 countries converge to tackle health issues that affect 1.8 billion people in our region.

Guam will host the 66th session of the World Health Organization Regional Committee for the Western Pacific, from Oct. 12-16 at the Hyatt Regency Guam. About 250 people, including 150 committee members, will review WHO's progress over the past year and reach consensus on five health challenges that face the region.

The agenda items to be discussed by the Regional Committee include viral hepatitis, tuberculosis, universal health coverage, violence and injury prevention and urban health.

Dr. Shin Young-soo, WHO regional director for the Western Pacific, presented the week's agenda at a news conference on Sunday. He thanked the Government of Guam and United States for hosting the event and recognized Lt. Gov. Ray Tenorio and Public Health Director James Gillan for their accommodation.

It is Guam's second time to host the Regional Committee, said Shin, who added that Gillan helped organize the Regional Committee meeting when it was last held here in 1972.

Shin touched on each of the five main challenges:

• Viral hepatitis: Causes more than half a million deaths in the region. Committee will work on negotiating lower prices for effective medicines.
• Universal health coverage: Achieving this leads to widespread success in other areas. Committee will work to accelerate its implementation to strengthen health systems throughout the region.
• Urban health: Fifty four percent of the region's population lives in cities, and that percentage is growing. Rapid and unplanned urbanization poses serious health problems, especially for the poor and underserved. Committee will work on specific ways to make cities in the region healthier and more resilient.
• Tuberculosis: Committee will discuss the need to combat drug-resistant TB, which threatens regional health security. It will discuss the region's role in a global strategy to end tuberculosis altogether.
• Violence and Injury prevention: Violence and injuries claim more than one million lives each year in the region. It includes deaths from road traffic injuries, falls, drowning and interpersonal violence. It's the leading cause of death in the region for people aged 5 to 49 years old. Committee will consider endorsing actions to curb these preventable deaths.

Local impact

Tenorio said reducing violence and injury has been his longtime concern and wants to know what other countries are doing about it.

"We've seen our share of that here in drowning incidents," he said. "If they have different ideas on how to go about preventing injury and drowning, the entire island could benefit from that."

He added that from a policy standpoint, he would also like to learn how other countries might regulate social welfare programs such as food stamps, and how they might control what a recipient is able to purchase.

Gillan said that while Guam does not have a seat at the Committee table, he's met people from the U.S. who want to hear from the territories.

For instance, the rising cost of drugs drastically affects Guam's ability to fight diseases such as a multiple-resistant strain of tuberculosis. That medication went from $500 for a 30-day supply to costing $10,600.

"It's almost criminal," he said.

"But because we are a U.S. territory, we are forced to purchase only FDA-approved drugs. We have to start looking at other sources. We can buy similar medications through WHO ... at a significant discount. We have some programs in our public health department that give significant discounts, but even those discounts pale against what we could get through WHO. So we need to address that, and we'll probably be asking the whole body for ways they could assist us."

source: http://www.guampdn.com/

The results of a major Commission report on women and health took center stage at the Donna E. Shalala Student Center, as Felicia Knaul, Ph.D., Director of the Miami Institute for the Americas (MIA) at the University of Miami College of Arts & Sciences, presented a discussion of a Lancet study that found women are contributing around $3 trillion to global health care, but nearly half of this labor is unpaid, unrecognized and unaccounted for.

Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences Leonidas Bachas was the host for the special presentation on the study, which was published in The Lancet in June. Dr. Knaul, a co-author of the study while Director of the Harvard Global Equity Initiative, spoke about the findings with the Chair of the Lancet Commission Report on Women and Health, Ana Langer, M.D., professor of the practice of public health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

The study, a comprehensive and evidence-based analysis of the complex relationships between women and health, presented findings that women's contribution to society is under-recognized across a wide spectrum: economically, socially, politically and culturally.

"The paper was the result of the work of 15 dedicated Commissioners that included academics, policymakers, program implementers and advocates - all of them related to this broad, comprehensive construct of women's health from different perspectives," said Dr. Langer. The purpose of the report, according to Dr. Langer, is to hopefully influence policy agenda on issues related to women and health.

Dr. Langer discussed how women's health is sometimes undertaken in a fragmented way instead of a comprehensive way. "That is what we address in the report when we talk about women's health in a lifecycle. There is evidence to show that women's health at each stage of our lives is influenced by the previous stages, and whatever was done right to protect our health in the earlier stages will definitely put us in a better position to be healthy in later stages."

Regarding women in the role of health care providers, Dr. Langer says women in almost every culture and part of the world are the general health care providers in a household. "That important role they play is not really recognized as it should, and it's definitely not compensated in most places around the world; and women don't get the training or the support they will benefit from in other levels of the health system," she added.

Touching upon valuing women and how to make today's health systems function better, Dr. Knaul explained: "I believe having efficient, responsive, fair and intelligent health systems is very much today the job of women because as it turns out, from the study, health systems are managed...by women, both paid and unpaid." She also revealed that more than 50 percent of graduate students studying to be physicians today are women.

Dr. Knaul addressed another important point from the study on data regarding global gender discrimination. "We know, globally, that women are not paid as much as men when we do the same jobs - sometimes it's a little less, sometimes it's a little more, but it's a constant all around the world that we are fighting to change," she said.

In relation to how women and men, in Mexico specifically, invest their time every week juggling responsibilities in care giving, domestic work and work outside the home, Dr. Knaul presented a pie chart showing how women's time is "eaten away with little left for rest and relaxation," while for men, the pie chart illustrated that half of their time is set aside for relaxation.

"We believe that you need healthy economies and healthy health sectors, and to produce those you need healthy women who can act in ways that allow us to be able to give all that we can give to our health sectors, our societies and our communities," said Dr. Knaul.

In her closing remarks, Dr. Langer presented four categories of recommendations from the study designed to find solutions to the health-related issues women face today: Value Women, Compensate Women, Count Women and Be Accountable to Women. The categories emphasize the need to implement health sector policies, recognize women for their paid and unpaid contributions as health-care providers, and ensure women are accounted for in data collection within the health-care workforce, among other vital points.

The presentation also included opening remarks by UM President Julio Frenk, who was a Commission member on the Lancet study, as well as comments and a panel discussion with esteemed UM faculty members: Dean Nilda (Nena) Peragallo, School of Nursing & Health Studies; Dean Isaac Prilleltensky, School of Education & Human Development; and Professor Merike Blofield, Director of the Women's and Gender Studies Program.

source: http://www.news-medical.net/

KOLKATA: The World Health Organisation (WHO) has cautioned that the current practice of indiscriminate use of antibiotics is increasingly leading to resistance to medicines, persistence of infections and treatment failure.

"Immediate action is needed to stop the world from heading towards a pre-antibiotic era in which all achievements made in prevention and control of communicable diseases will be reversed," Regional Director of WHO South-East Asia Region, Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, said at a recent regional meeting of WHO at Dili, the capital of Timor-Leste.

Health ministers and senior health officials of 11 member countries of WHO South-East Asia Region attended the 68th meeting of the Regional Committee.

Singh urged WHO's member countries in the south-east Asia region to urgently address this threat to public health.

"Common infections and minor injuries which have been treatable for decades may once again kill millions. Resistance to antibiotics will make complex surgeries and management of several chronic illnesses like cancer extremely difficult," she said.

Without effective antimicrobial medicines, a number of common infections such as hospital-acquired ventilator associated pneumonias, urinary tract infections, diarrhoea, gonorrhoea, tuberculosis and malaria are already becoming harder to treat, the WHO official said.

"And the problem is compounding. Unless we act now, the consequences might be irreversible," the regional director warned.

A recent forecast for the potential human and economic cost estimates 10 million deaths per year globally and two to 3.5 per cent less global gross domestic product by 2050 if antimicrobial resistance goes unchecked, she said.

Reduced productivity from persisting illness, and its cost of treatment, adds to the economic loss, Singh said, adding that "comprehensive and integrated national action plans are needed to respond to antimicrobial resistance".

Countries need to strengthen the monitoring of the extent and cause of antibiotic resistance, improve infection-control in hospitals and regulate and promote appropriate use of medicines besides creating increased awareness among the general public as well as health workers and pharmacists, she said.

The senior WHO official stressed, "Antibiotics are a precious resource. They have saved millions of lives by treating serious infections. Everyone has a role to play in preserving their effectiveness; together we can stop this potential threat."

The WHO South-East Asia regional strategy, the Jaipur Declaration on Antimicrobial Resistance, 2011, and the recent Global Action Plan needed to be implemented in totality keeping in mind national priorities and contexts to prevent and contain antimicrobial resistance, she said.

The current global antibiotic resistance has resulted from injudicious rampant use of antibiotics by prescribers, patients not completing full treatment courses, overuse of antibiotics in livestock and fish farming, inadequate control of infections in healthcare settings and poor hygiene.

source: http://health.economictimes.indiatimes.com

In a new report on aging and health, the World Health Organization is calling for action on "population aging," as figures suggest the number of people over 60 will reach two billion by 2050.

People worldwide are living longer, says the World Health Organization in its World Report on Aging and Health. This is both good and bad. It gives us the chance to "pursue new activities" as we get older, such as in education and family life. But it all depends on our health. And for that the WHO says world governments need to act now to make sure our societies worldwide are ready.

What are the take home facts from the World Health Organization's 2015 report on Aging and Health?

The WHO says that in the next 35 years, the global number of people aged 60 years and over will almost double from 12 percent to 22 percent. By 2020, there will be more people over the age of 60 than 5 year olds. And a majority of older people (80 percent) will live in "low and middle income" countries.

It's estimated that the world's population aged 60 years and older will total about 2 billion in 2050, which is more than twice as much as now.
Furthermore, worldwide, about 125 million people are aged 80 years or older. But by 2050, it is expected that this number of people - aged 80 and over - will live in China alone.

But I'm not old, so why should I care?

Well, all this is happening at a faster rate than ever before. And the WHO says "all countries face major challenges to ensure that their health and social systems are ready" for this major demographic shift. It will cost a lot of money to improve health and social infrastructures, especially in more developed countries where traditional families structures have changed dramatically.

Surely, there's "no typical older person," though. How does the WHO define aging?

We tend to think of older people as physically and mentally frail. But that's not necessarily the case, not everywhere in the world. Old is a relative concept - especially in middle income to rich countries. For instance, some 70 year olds are as fit as some 20 year olds. Just think how many older folk are at your gym, and ask yourself whether you can keep up with all of them.

But that still doesn't explain aging. What is it exactly?

The WHO says that at a biological level, "aging results from the impact of the accumulation of a wide variety of molecular and cellular damage over time." Basically, this puts people at a higher risk of disease and, of course, death.

But aging can also be associated with "life transitions," such as retirement or witnessing other people, such as friends and family, die around you. This can affect you psychologically and sometimes, as a result, physically.

What sort of diseases come with old age?

Some of the most common non-fatal conditions include hearing loss, cataracts, back and neck pain and osteoarthritis. Other conditions include chronic obstructive pulmonary disease - which affects the lungs - diabetes, depression, and dementia.

What needs to be done?

The WHO is proposing a five-step plan of action, which includes:

• Committing to healthy aging and "evidence-based policies to strengthen the abilities of older persons."
• Aligning health systems with the needs of older populations
• Developing systems for providing long-term care
• Creating "age-friendly cities and communities
• Improving measurement, monitoring and understanding of "aging issues" worldwide.

But don't forget: "a longer life brings with it opportunities, not only for older people and their families, but also for societies as a whole."

source: http://www.dw.com/

The World Health Organization announced today that polio is no longer endemic in Nigeria. This is the first time that Nigeria has interrupted transmission of wild poliovirus, bringing the country and the African region closer than ever to being certified polio-free.

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), the public-private partnership leading the effort to eradicate polio, called this a 'historic achievement' in global health. Nigeria has not reported a case of wild poliovirus since 24 July 2014, and all laboratory data have confirmed a full 12 months have passed without any new cases.

"The removal of Nigeria from the list of polio-endemic countries is a major victory for Nigeria's children, said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake. "It is a testament to the commitment and dedication of the Government of Nigeria, local leaders, and front line workers. And it is proof positive that if we work together in partnership to reach every community and immunize every child, we can finish the job of eradicating this evil disease everywhere, once and for all."

As recently as 2012, Nigeria accounted for more than half of all polio cases worldwide. This success is the result of a concerted effort by all levels of government, civil society, religious leaders and tens of thousands of dedicated health workers. More than 200,000 volunteers across the country repeatedly immunized more than 45 million children under the age of five years, to ensure that no child would suffer from this paralysing disease. Innovative approaches, such as increased community involvement and the establishment of Emergency Operations Centres at the national and state level, have also been pivotal to Nigeria's success.

The interruption of wild poliovirus transmission in Nigeria would have been impossible without the support and commitment of donors and development partners. Their continued support, along with continued domestic funding from Nigeria, will be essential to keep Nigeria and the entire region polio-free.

Polio, which can cause lifelong paralysis, has now been stopped nearly everywhere in the world following a 25-year concerted international effort. Polio remains endemic in only two countries – Pakistan and Afghanistan. The eradication of polio globally now depends primarily on stopping the disease in these countries. As long as polio exists anywhere, it's a threat to children everywhere.

Nigeria has made remarkable progress against polio, but continued vigilance is needed to protect these gains and ensure that polio does not return. Immunization and surveillance activities must continue to rapidly detect a potential re-introduction or re-emergence of the virus. After three years have passed without a case of wild poliovirus on the continent, official 'certification' of polio eradication will be conducted at the regional level in Africa.

Eradicating polio will be one of the greatest achievements in human history, and have a positive impact on global health for generations to come. Nigeria has brought the world one major step closer to achieving this goal and it's critical that we seize this opportunity to end polio for good and ensure future generations of children are free from this devastating disease.

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Statements from other Global Polio Eradication Initiative leadership:

"The outstanding commitment and efforts that got Nigeria off the endemic list must continue, to keep Africa polio-free. We must now support the efforts in Pakistan and Afghanistan so they soon join the polio-free world." – Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General, World Health Organization

"We Nigerians are proud today. With local innovation and national persistence, we have beaten polio. We know our vigilance and efforts must continue in order to keep Nigeria polio-free." - Dr Ado Muhammad, Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Nigeria

"Stopping polio in Nigeria has been a clear example that political engagement, strong partnerships and community engagement are the engines that drive the momentum of public health programmes, enabling them to achieve great things. I would like to congratulate everyone, particularly political, religious and community leaders in Nigeria and across Africa, for reaching a year without cases of wild polio." – Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa

"This is a clear example of success under very difficult circumstances. It shows we can eradicate polio if proven strategies are fully implemented. Combined with the news of the eradication of type 2 wild polio virus last week, we are moving decisively toward ending a disease that has paralyzed tens of millions of children. In this final mile, we must remain committed to providing the resources and the support to the front lines to make this worthy goal a reality." – Dr Tom Frieden, Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Chairman of the Polio Oversight Board

"Rotary congratulates Nigeria on its tremendous accomplishment in stopping polio. On behalf of the entire Global Polio Eradication Initiative, we thank volunteers, health workers and parents in communities across Nigeria for their tireless commitment to ensuring every last child is protected against this devastating disease. In the months ahead, their dedication will remain as important as ever, as we work to keep Nigeria polio-free and to eliminate polio from its final strongholds in Pakistan and Afghanistan." - K.R. Ravindran, President, Rotary International

"This is a significant milestone for the global polio eradication effort and the health workers, government and religious leaders and partners should be proud of this accomplishment. While the progress in Nigeria should be celebrated, it is also fragile. It is critical that Nigeria goes two more years without a case of polio which will require the support of partners, increased accountability at all levels of the program led by President Buhari, and increased domestic funding commitments." – Chris Elias, President, Global Development, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Note to editors:
The Global Polio Eradication Initiative is spearheaded by national governments, WHO, Rotary International, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and UNICEF, and supported by key partners including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Since 1988, the incidence of polio has been reduced by more than 99 percent. At the time, more than 350,000 children were paralysed every year, in more than 125 endemic countries. Today, two countries remain which have never stopped endemic transmission of polio: Pakistan and Afghanistan. In 2015, 41 cases of wild poliovirus have been reported worldwide (32 in Pakistan, 9 in Afghanistan).

source: http://www.unicef.org/

The recent Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa was the moment that the World Health Organisation, or WHO, was created for and it failed utterly, according to global health expert Professor Lawrence Gostin. In an interview with William Isdale of The Conversation, Gostin cited incompetent staff and inadequate information as the factors that hampered efforts in stopping the epidemic.

"It was late, bureaucratic, political, and unconscionable. We allowed three of the four poorest countries languish with a preventable disease, and we did nothing for the first six months," said Gostin, a professor in Georgetown University specialising in public health law. "The WHO does not deserve all of the blame, but a lot of it for being so late and for being so insensitive of the needs of the poor people."

The Ebola epidemic in 2014 that spread across Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia resulted to 11,000 deaths is considered to be the most widespread outbreak of the virus disease in history. WHO, which led the response, has been widely criticised for acting too slow and inadequate in stopping the disease which the organisation dubbed as an international emergency. While there is relief that the outbreak now seems contained, Gostin shared lessons that can be learned from it as well as the future of global health.

According to Gostin, there are two present contrasting narratives in global health today. One narrative shows an ever-increasing progress in health especially in AIDS, malaria, healthy babies and longevity, while the other narrative presents extreme suffering and poverty. "You can have great progress in global health, but no justice, no equity. There are ever-improving health indicators but they should be fairly distributed around the world, not just for the rich," Gostin said.

Gostin stressed that in relation to this, the Millennium Development Goals which marks its end this year, 2015, has been successful on one level. "We met all the goals, made enormous improvements in them. The problem is when you choose one goal and don't choose others, you're in trouble. We improved on safe childbirth, AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, but did not cover mental health injuries, cancer, heart disease, where we've languished. It gives a mixed message: what the goal shows were successful, what we didn't choose were neglected," he said.

The Sustainable Development Goals, meanwhile, has identified only one health goal: a healthy lifespan. "I cannot see fundamental improvement in what I consider the most important indicator which is global health equality not only between poor and rich countries, but even within countries. In Australia, we have the greatest disparity between Aboriginals and other population in the world. In Brazil, you have super filthy rich and utter poor who are ill. We need to create fairness between countries and among them," Gostin explained.

When Isdale brought up that developed countries such as Australia and the US are much more willing to spend in tackling military problems, Gostin said that we need a global health reserve workforce. He stressed the need for a standing army, a network of highly trained individuals – doctors, epidemiologists and nurses – with proper medical training to be deployed in an emergency to bring epidemic in control. "We should treat global health security as war. It causes more deaths and suffering than war does, and yet we're prepared to invest everything it takes in armories, militaries, soldiers and we don't fund soldiers of security – doctors, nurses, public health people, nutritionists. That is incredibly skewed and short-sighted," Gostin said.

Still on the subject of global health funding, Gostin determined the lack of rational approach in spending health dollars. According to him, the global burden of mental ill health is incalculable, yet WHO basically has two people in their mental health unit – a clear example of a mismatch between needs and resources, he said. Gostin added that while the world is focusing on highly glamourous issues such as polio eradication, there are other problems that are being ignored, including mental health injuries, diabetes and obesity particularly on lower income countries.

In the upcoming 69th World Health Assembly in Geneva in May 2017, Gostin said that the agenda should focus on a vast increase in mandatory dues by rich countries to the WHO, "to empower it and make it what the UN envisaged for it in 1948: giving everyone the right to health." If there's one thing he would do to improve the health of the world, Gostin said it is as simple as to educate women.

source: http://www.ibtimes.com.au/

NEW DELHI: Concerned at the increasing number of cancer-related deaths, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has suggested prioritizing cancer prevention and control programmes to deal with the menace. The number of cancer-related deaths in India have increased by almost 60% between 1990 and 2013, whereas the new cases of the disease almost doubled during this period, latest estimates show.

While cancer has already emerged as the second leading cause of death globally after cardiovascular diseases, discussion on how to control the disease burden assumed significance at WHO's South East Asia regional committee meet with focus on the increasing incidence of cancer in developing countries.

Experts said though cancer is often seen as a problem primarily in more affluent nations, the disease is growing rapidly in countries like India, Bangladesh and China.

"The type of cancer may vary from developed to developing countries but it is no less a threat in countries like India," said an expert in non-communicable diseases participating in the WHO meet.

Asking countries to formulate a specific strategy for early detection, treatment and palliative care, WHO also passed a resolution to control risk factors leading to cancer.

"We need to ensure comprehensive cancer services to the community including promotion, prevention of modifiable risk factors, early detection and treatment, and the availability of affordable diagnostics, medical products and palliative care," Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director WHO South-East Asia Region, said during the adoption of the resolution on cancer prevention and control.

According to WHO estimates, 1.1 million deaths and 1.7 million new cases are registered in its South East Asia region every year. India accounts for a major portion with over 1,30,000 mouth cancer cases registered in 2013, the highest in the world; 1,51,304 new breast cancer cases and close to 90,000 new cervical cancer cases.

The resolution at WHO called for implementing multi-sectoral actions for "primary prevention of cancer risk factors, in particular tobacco, alcohol and exposure to environmental risk factors". It also highlighted the need to increase public awareness to reduce modifiable risk factors and strengthening community-based interventions.

"Tobacco (both smoked and smokeless) is the single most preventable cause of cancer," noted a technical paper presented at the WHO meet. The paper also highlighted that at least one-third of cancers can be prevented by implementing interventions such as vaccinations to prevent hepatocellular carcinoma and cervical cancer; reducing smoked and chewed tobacco use; decreasing alcohol use by increasing taxation and by reducing exposure to environmental and occupational carcinogens.

In 2013, there were 14.9 million new cancer cases registered worldwide, whereas 8.2 million people died due to the disease.

source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

The World Health Organization says a child has been paralyzed by polio which was detected in Mali.

It is the first case of polio in Mali since 2011 and WHO says the 19-month-old child was stricken in Guinea before arriving in Bamako. In a statement issued this week, WHO said the polio strain responsible for the new outbreak is derived from the vaccine.

Polio is a potentially fatal water-borne disease that mostly strikes children under 5. For every child that is paralyzed, there may be up to 200 others infected.

The oral polio vaccine used in the eradication campaign contains a live form of polio virus. When children are vaccinated, they excrete the weakened virus. In areas with poor sanitation, the virus can survive and in very rare instances, mutate into a new form capable of sparking outbreaks, particularly in a population that hasn't been vaccinated.

WHO said the risk of polio spreading further is "deemed high" and blamed the outbreak on low vaccination rates in Guinea, which is still battling Ebola.

Last week, WHO announced a similar polio outbreak in Ukraine, also caused by a mutated strain from the vaccine.

source: http://news.yahoo.com/