Category: Berita

German Chancellor Angela Merkel addressed delegates on the first morning of the Sixty-eighth World Health Assembly, Tuesday, the 19th of May. “The WHO is the only international organization that has universal political legitimacy on global health issues,” she said.

Chancellor Merkel called for a new plan to deal with “catastrophes” like the recent outbreak of Ebola that wreaked havoc in Africa. The outbreak highlighted the critical need for urgent, collaborative action in emergencies, and the importance of having efficient structures in place to ensure timely and accurate responses to healthcare crises. Chancellor Merkel paid tribute to all those working to safeguard human health worldwide, urging them to “work together”.

She pledged that under Germany’s presidency, the G7 would focus on fighting antimicrobial resistance and neglected tropical diseases. She emphasized the need for all countries to have strong health systems and highlighted the key role of health in sustainable development.

NEW PROGRAMME FOR HEALTH EMERGENCIES

In the afternoon, WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan outlined her plans to create a single new WHO programme for health emergencies, uniting outbreak and emergency resources across the 3 levels of the Organization. “I have heard what the world expects from WHO,” said Dr Chan. “And we will deliver.”

The new programme will be accountable to the Director-General, and will have its own business rules and operational platforms. It will have clear performance metrics, built on partnerships with other responders. It will set up a new global health emergency workforce, as well as strengthening its own core and surge capacity of trained emergency response staff. The Organization is calling for a new USD100 million contingency fund. The Director-General plans to complete these changes by the end of the year.

source: http://www.neurope.eu/article

 

 

18 MAY 2015 ¦ GENEVA – Angela Merkel, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany addressed delegates on the first morning of the Sixty-eighth World Health Assembly. “The WHO is the only international organization that has universal political legitimacy on global health issues,” she said.

Chancellor Merkel called for a new plan to deal with “catastrophes” like the recent Ebola outbreak. The outbreak highlighted the critical need for urgent, collaborative action in emergencies, and the importance of having efficient structures in place. Chancellor Merkel paid tribute to all those working to safeguard human health worldwide, urging them to “work together”.

She pledged that under Germany’s presidency, the G7 would focus on fighting antimicrobial resistance and neglected tropical diseases. She emphasized the need for all countries to have strong health systems and highlighted the key role of health in sustainable development.

New programme for health emergencies

In the afternoon, WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan outlined her plans to create a single new WHO programme for health emergencies, uniting outbreak and emergency resources across the 3 levels of the Organization. “I have heard what the world expects from WHO,” said Dr Chan. “And we will deliver.”

The new programme will be accountable to the Director-General, and will have its own business rules and operational platforms. It will have clear performance metrics, built on partnerships with other responders. It will set up a new global health emergency workforce, as well as strengthening its own core and surge capacity of trained emergency response staff. The Organization is calling for a new USD100 million contingency fund. The Director-General plans to complete these changes by the end of the year.

Dr Chan reiterated Chancellor Merkel’s points about the importance of building resilient health systems and defeating antimicrobial resistance, citing the “spectre of a post-antibiotic era in which common infections will once again kill,” and urging delegates to adopt the draft global action plan on antimicrobial resistance on this year’s Health Assembly agenda.”

She also noted the need to ensure that the International Health Regulations, the world’s legal instruments for outbreak preparedness and response, are effective. She urged delegates to ready themselves for the post-2015 development agenda and to ensure that health receives the attention, and the resources it needs: “The goals are ambitious. Financing plans must likewise be ambitious but credible.”

Dr Chan also encouraged Member States to align in preparation for the Climate Conference in Paris at the end of the year, pointing out that health had remained on the side lines of this critical issue for too long.

New President of the World Health Assembly

Earlier in the day, the Health Assembly elected Dr Shri Jagat Prakash Nadda of India as its new President. Five vice-presidents were also appointed from Afghanistan, Barbados, China, San Marino, and Senegal, representing their respective regions. Addressing the Health Assembly, Dr Nadda announced a number of contributions to WHO from India, including a donation to the WHO contingency fund.

Topics covered during the 68th WHA

More than 3000 delegates from WHO’s 194 Member States – including a large proportion of the world’s health ministers – are expected to attend the Health Assembly, which ends on 26 May. They will discuss resolutions and decision points on antimicrobial resistance, Ebola, epilepsy, the International Health Regulations, malaria, nutrition, polio, public health, innovation, and intellectual property, substandard/spurious/falsely-labelled/falsified/counterfeit medical products, surgical care and anaesthesia.

Delegates will be asked to approve the Organization’s planned budget and programme of work for 2016-2017. They will also review progress reports on a wide range of issues such as adolescent health, immunization, noncommunicable diseases, women and health, and WHO’s response in severe, large-scale emergencies.

A series of daily technical briefings started today with a discussion about health in the post-2015 sustainable development goals. Subsequent sessions will address the Ebola outbreak, climate and health, preparations for the third UN High-level meeting on noncommunicable diseases in 2018, cancer prevention and control, and the development of global health sector strategies for HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections.

Notes to editors:

The World Health Assembly is attended by delegates from WHO Member States as well as representatives from many agencies, organizations, foundations and other groups that contribute to improving public health. Member States approve resolutions in committee before formally adopting them in the plenary session at the end of the Health Assembly.

source: http://www.who.int/

 

 

GENEVA, May 13 (Xinhua) — The World Health Organization (WHO) released on Wednesday its World Health Statistics 2015 report to assess the progress made towards meeting health-related objectives in 194 countries around the world.

Data on mortality and health system indicators including life expectancy, illnesses and deaths from diseases, as well as statistics on health services and financial investment, unveil a mixed picture as the 2015 UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) deadline approaches.

“We have seen incredible progress in the last 25 years, particularly in HIV, malaria and tuberculosis” said WHO Health Statistics and Information Systems director Ties Boerma, adding that “many issues still need to be addressed.”

WHO figures indicate that although few global targets have been met, a number of objectives show positive trends and are on track of being realized.

Regional disparities also highlight the varied situation across the world: the Americas, Europe and the Western Pacific have reported substantial progress across most health-related sectors since 1990, while the Eastern Mediterranean and Africa have reported only limited progress.

Recent development in countries such as China, which has “significantly contributed to global achievements” according to Boerma, has been decisive in improving the systemic outlook.

Figures show that China has met most of the MDG targets, including reducing the under-five mortality rate (by 76 percent), achieving a measles immunization rate among 1 year olds of 99 percent and reducing the tuberculosis mortality rate by 84 percent, amongst other achievements.

Amid a mixed global picture and despite health figures falling short of targets set in 2000, progress in global child survival is considered to be one of the greatest success stories of international development, as the mortality rate of children under five has almost halved since 1990.

Global trends of HIV, malaria and tuberculosis have also been reversed, meeting targets to turn around the epidemics by 2015 — 2.1 million HIV infections were reported in 2013, compared to 3.4 million in 2001.

Similarly, the number of malaria cases is estimated to have fallen from 227 million in 2000 to 198 million in 2013.

The global life expectancy at birth for both sexes was 71 years in 2013 (compared to 64 in 1990), the lowest being in the African Region (58) and the highest in the Region of the Americas (77)

Come September, countries will draw up new global targets to be reached by 2030, so as to finish the MDG agenda and address emerging problems such as non-communicable diseases, which account for two-thirds of global deaths, as well as other socio-environmental factors which are affecting the global population.

source: http://www.shanghaidaily.com

 

13 MAY 2015 | GENEVA – 2015 is the final year for the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – goals set by governments in 2000 to guide global efforts to end poverty. This year’s “World Health Statistics” – published today by WHO – assesses progress towards the health-related goals in each of the 194 countries for which data are available. The results are mixed.

By the end of this year if current trends continue, the world will have met global targets for turning around the epidemics of HIV, malaria and tuberculosis and increasing access to safe drinking water. It will also have made substantial progress in reducing child undernutrition, maternal and child deaths, and increasing access to basic sanitation.

“The MDGs have been good for public health. They have focused political attention and generated badly needed funds for many important public health challenges,” says Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of WHO. “While progress has been very encouraging, there are still wide gaps between and within countries. Today’s report underscores the need to sustain efforts to ensure the world’s most vulnerable people have access to health services.”

Child deaths halved, but won’t reach target

Progress in child survival worldwide is one of the greatest success stories of international development. Since 1990, child deaths have almost halved – falling from an estimated 90 deaths per 1000 live births to 46 deaths per 1000 live births in 2013.

Despite great advances, this is not enough to reach the goal of reducing the death rate by two-thirds. Less than one third of all countries have achieved or are on track to meet this target by the end of this year. The top killers of children aged less than 5 years are now: preterm birth complications, pneumonia, birth asphyxia and diarrhoea.

Saving more mothers

The number of women who died due to complications during pregnancy and childbirth has almost halved between 1990 and 2013. This rate of decrease won’t be enough to achieve the targeted reduction of 75% by the end of this year.

The maternal mortality ratio has fallen in every region. However, 13 countries with some of the world’s highest rates have made little progress in reducing these largely preventable deaths.

In the WHO African Region, 1 in 4 women who wants to prevent or delay childbearing does not have access to contraceptives, and only 1 in 2 women gives birth with the support of a skilled birth attendant. Less than two-thirds (64%) of women worldwide receive the recommended minimum of 4 antenatal care visits during pregnancy.

Reversing the spread of HIV

The world has begun to reverse the spread of HIV, with new infections reported in 2013 of 2.1 million people, down from 3.4 million in 2001.

The revised target of achieving universal access to treatment for HIV will be more challenging as WHO’s recommendations have resulted in much higher numbers of people needing treatment. At current trends, the world will exceed the target of placing 15 million people in low- and middle-income countries on antiretroviral therapy (ARTs) in 2015. By the end of 2013, almost 13 million people received ARTs globally. Of these, 11.7 million lived in low- and middle-income countries, representing 37% of people living with HIV in those countries.

Increasing access to safe drinking water and sanitation

While the global target for increasing access to safe drinking water was met in 2010, the WHO African and Eastern Mediterranean Regions fall far short, particularly for poor people and those living in rural areas.

The world is unlikely to meet the MDG target on access to basic sanitation. Around 1 billion people have no access to basic sanitation and are forced to defecate in open spaces such as fields and near water sources. Lack of sanitation facilities puts these people at high risk of diarrhoeal diseases (including cholera), trachoma and hepatitis.

Beyond 2015

In September, countries will decide on new and ambitious global goals for 2030 at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. In addition to finishing the MDG agenda, the post-2015 agenda needs to tackle emerging challenges including the growing impact of noncommunicable diseases, like diabetes and heart disease, and the changing social and environmental determinants that affect health.

The draft post-2015 agenda proposes 17 goals, including an overarching health goal to “ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages”.

Key facts from World Health Statistics 2015

• Life expectancy at birth has increased 6 years for both men and women since 1990.
• Two-thirds of deaths worldwide are due to noncommunicable diseases.
• In some countries, more than one-third of births are delivered by caesarean section.
• In low- and middle-income countries, only two-thirds of pregnant women with HIV receive antiretrovirals to prevent transmission to their baby.
• Over one-third of adult men smoke tobacco.
• Only 1 in 3 African children with suspected pneumonia receives antibiotics.
• 15% of women worldwide are obese.
• The median age of people living in low-income countries is 20 years, while it is 40 years in high-income countries.
• One quarter of men have raised blood pressure.
• In some countries, less than 5% of total government expenditure is on health.

About WHO statistics

Published every year since 2005 by WHO, World Health Statistics is the definitive source of information on the health of the world’s people. It contains data from 194 countries on a range of mortality, disease and health system indicators including life expectancy, illnesses and deaths from key diseases, health services and treatments, financial investment in health, as well as risk factors and behaviours that affect health.

source: http://www.who.int/

 

The Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa has not just illustrated the absence of political commitment towards public health, but it has also initiated discussions on the security of global health. A group comprising of leading practitioners of health have now presented their thoughts on the impact of this epidemic in several essays published in The Lancet. In this essay, Different perspectives have been critically looked at on what the Ebola outbreak has got to teach us. In areas like health care access for individuals, the epidemic can increase political commitment for improving healthy security and how other related issues like antimicrobial resistance are relevant to the security of health have been investigated.

Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, London, UK and lead author of the review, David L.Heymann has described health security as being essentially the protection from various threats to health.

The professor said that throughout history, the approach to threats like the Ebola epidemic has been focused on rapid response and rapid detection of these outbreaks. According to him, this approach has overtime become the commonly understood concept of healthy security for several centuries. But, the Ebola crisis has highlighted a second and equally crucial aspect of global health security that is not considered and that is making accessibility to health products and services more accessible at a personal level around the globe. He also said that this should be better recognized as an integral part in the scope of global health security.

One of the essays also made a suggestion that global healthy security has remained politically neglected for over a decade through the lesser importance given by the WHO and the legal noncompliance by certain countries.

source: http://www.dispatchtimes.com/