Mr Chairperson;
Honourable ministers and representatives
from Member States and partner agencies;
WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan;
Colleagues, ladies and gentlemen:
Good afternoon and welcome to the Regional Office for the Western Pacific. It is always a special occasion for me to speak before you — even more so today.
As you know, I have been nominated to serve a second term as the WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific. It is an honour I accept with humility.
I deeply appreciate your trust. I know that this nomination is not simply about me. It as an affirmation of the work we have done in the Region.
Of course, the path taken and the reforms adopted are the result of the thoughtful decisions of this Regional Committee.
Likewise, the considerable public health achievements during my time are not my achievements. They are the achievements of our Member States and the more than 650 WHO staff throughout this vast Region.
With so many priorities, I stretch my staff thin at times. Nevertheless, they always respond with professionalism and dedication. I am fortunate to work with such committed people.
I also congratulate Members States on their commitment and hard work. On behalf of the WHO Secretariat, I thank you for the confidence you continue to show in us.
Every year, the Regional Director reports to this Committee on the achievements of the previous year. All of you have received my detailed formal report — The Work of WHO in the Western Pacific Region.
I would like to highlight WHO’s work over the past year and talk about how, with your guidance, we will address challenges in the future. The list of accomplishments starts with programmes to build healthier communities and populations.
Most Member States have reduced maternal and child mortality significantly and are on track to achieve Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5.
On a larger scale, we are working together to address risk factors for noncommunicable diseases, or NCDs, which are the leading cause of premature death and disability in the Region.
WHO and Member States have set voluntary targets as part of the global framework to monitor progress to curb the NCD epidemic. Later this week, the Regional Committee will consider a draft NCD action plan that aligns regional targets with the recently finalized global targets.
Our Division of Pacific Technical Support helped Pacific leaders develop crisis-response plans tailored to their NCD crises. The plans include tobacco control, salt reduction and the Package of Essential Noncommunicable Disease interventions — or PEN. Only by focusing on prevention — and building groups dedicated to keeping people healthy in the first place — will we be able to get the upper hand on NCDs.
Inspired by pioneering health promotion foundations in Australia, WHO has helped build capacity through a programme called ProLead. The response has been phenomenal.
Health promotion foundations have been established in Malaysia, Mongolia, the Republic of Korea and Tonga. Samoa will also have a health promotion foundation soon.
Lao PDR and Viet Nam have created tobacco control funds.
Meanwhile, the Health Promotion Board in Singapore and the Health Promotion Agency in New Zealand continue to serve as strong examples for the entire Region.
In fact, our Region is the only one with a growing number of health promotion organizations. We have 10 such organizations — most of which were established during the past five years.
Cooperation and collaboration for health do not stop there.
Through the Macao–WHO Healthy Cities Leadership Programme, city officials continue to share experiences and mentor each other across the Region.
Implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control has been accelerated.
Several Member States have increased tobacco taxes, introduced stronger warnings, formed smoke-free areas and banned advertising, promotion and sponsorship by tobacco companies.
Viet Nam passed its first comprehensive tobacco control law, which took effect in May of this year.
Last year, Cook Islands, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Tonga raised tobacco taxes.
This year in July, Pacific health ministers set the goal of a Tobacco Free Pacific — that means less than 5% adult smoking prevalence — by 2025. It is an ambitious target, but very attainable… and very commendable.
In the Philippines in December 2012, the President signed into law a measure that increased taxes on tobacco to raise revenue for universal health coverage.
It was a great pleasure to personally congratulate President Aquino when he was our guest here at the Regional Office on World Health Day.
More recently, Member States signed a treaty of collaboration to curb the smuggling and illicit trade of tobacco products.
Working together, we have also made significant progress in our efforts to combat communicable disease.
Nearly 30 countries and areas are believed to have achieved the 2012 milestone of reducing hepatitis B seroprevalence to less than 2% among children under five years old. Eight countries have already achieved the longer-term goal of less than 1%.
Later this week, the Regional Committee will discuss setting 2017 as the date for all Member States to achieve the 1% goal. It is a step that will prevent an additional 60 000 hepatitis B-related deaths every year in the Region.
This year, Niue and Palau will confirm elimination of lymphatic filariasis. Nine other countries and areas should follow over the next three years.
Endemic measles virus transmission has likely been interrupted in 34 countries and areas in the Region.
Member States have also made impressive strides towards providing universal access to HIV diagnosis and treatment.
We have made solid progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goal target of reducing tuberculosis cases by half by 2015.
Together we have been successful in significantly reducing the toll of death and suffering from several stubborn diseases.
Some key challenges remain, however, such as MDR-TB, artemisinin-resistant malaria and hard-to-reach populations with high HIV prevalence.
Indeed, the long-term success of many of our efforts — from achieving the MDGs to combating communicable and noncommunicable diseases — depends on accessible and effective health systems.
This is why WHO encourages Member States to strengthen health systems towards universal health coverage.
Of course, all governments worry about covering the cost of services for everyone.
WHO works with Member States on health financing policies. Our efforts focus on improving efficiency and reducing financial barriers.
WHO provided technical support to Viet Nam to revise its health insurance law, and assisted the Philippines on a national monitoring and evaluation framework for universal coverage.
WHO also provides patient-safety training, such as safe surgery checklists and hand-washing campaigns in Cambodia, Lao PDR and Viet Nam.
We recently reviewed regional health system strategies to inform our work with Member States on health system development going forward.
The review found that universal health coverage will be the main priority for many Member States in coming years.
A central concern of the universal health care agenda is the inclusion of as many basic health services as possible.
This past year alone WHO has worked to address new service development challenges related to NCDs and rapid ageing. We also have worked to include neglected services such as blindness prevention, mental health and disability services.
Many factors affect a country's ability to build quality health systems. In the end, however, delivering health services relies on having a skilled and trusted health workforce.
To that end, WHO has worked with Solomon Islands and the Philippines on strategic planning for human resources for health, and with Cambodia and Lao PDR in strengthening educational capacities.
WHO advocated more spending for essential health services in Lao PDR. As a result, the Government funded 4000 new posts to increase significantly the health labour force, especially in rural areas.
Shortages of health workers are especially acute in the Pacific — where WHO is working with Member States to take advantage of foreign training opportunities for health workers.
Even after graduation, WHO works with countries to facilitate accreditation and integration of foreign-trained medical workers. Based in Suva, Fiji, the Division of Pacific Technical Support, or DPS, was established as part of WHO reform in the Region to improve country-specific support.
I have already highlighted several results of the work of DPS, such as the rollout of PEN, increased tobacco taxes and continued progress toward elimination of lymphatic filariasis.
Recently, DPS also took the lead within WHO in organizing the very successful 2013 Pacific Health Ministers Meeting, which was graciously hosted by the Government of Samoa.
Now, four out of five requests for assistance by Pacific island countries are handled directly by DPS in Suva.
Bringing support closer is especially important in a Region that suffers more than its fair share of disasters and health emergencies.
Just look at events of the past year in the Western Pacific Region.
A cyclone devastated Fiji and Samoa in December 2012.
An underwater earthquake caused a deadly tsunami in Solomon Islands in February 2013.
The Philippines was hit by typhoons and flooding in the capital and in the South.
Earlier this year, Lao PDR saw its worst dengue outbreak ever.
In China, there was an outbreak of a new strain of influenza not previously seen in humans that we now know as H7N9.
The outbreak was the first big test for the upgraded Emergency Operations Centre here — which had just been inaugurated and has been busy ever since.
Guided by the new Emergency Response Framework, WHO provided technical support to affected countries and — when requested — helped coordinate international response to disasters.
The focus of our work, however, must be preparedness and prevention — starting with the implementation of the International Health Regulations among Member States.
In this way, we help Member States address health security threats before they become disasters. Every dollar spent on preparedness and prevention comes back several times over in savings versus the cost of emergency response.
In many ways, this is a special year.
It is the fifth time I have come before you to talk about WHO's work in the Region.
With my nomination, we have had the opportunity to reflect not only on our shared accomplishments over the past five years, but also on unfinished business and new challenges going forward.
The global public health landscape is changing, perhaps nowhere more rapidly than in this Region. We deal with everything from rapid ageing and urbanization to the consequences of environmental degradation, including climate change.
With these dynamic trends and emerging challenges, the important question for me is: How can I best spend the next five years as Regional Director?
Of course, important technical priorities will be decided in consultation with Member States and by this Regional Committee. Based on my experiences over the past five years, however, I have identified five principles to guide my work and that of the Secretariat over the next five years.
First — we must be people-centred and country-needs oriented. Member States are our clients. Their needs always come first.
Second — we should build on successes and tackle emerging challenges while continuing to address unfinished business. Now is no time for complacency.
Third — we must be flexible and adaptable. We have to be ready for the health consequences of emerging challenges in the Region.
Fourth — we have to continue to break down boundaries and engage all actors in health and beyond health. In particular, we must strengthen our convening role to include all sectors.
My fifth and final key principle is based on self-analysis: We at WHO must be more effective managers — of both financial and human resources.
As the world's leading health authority, we have to provide value for money at every level of engagement.
Our work will focus on enabling areas — that is, finding better ways to deliver WHO support — and technical priorities.
Many of these priorities are set already by Member States, including universal health coverage, NCDs, ageing and health in the post-2015 development agenda, to name a few.
Our work will continue on the important issues in communicable diseases, antimicrobial resistance, artemisinin resistance, hepatitis B, TB, measles and malaria — as well as our push to fulfil MDGs 4 and 5 and International Health Regulations core capacities.
The opportunity to serve another five years will provide the continuity and commitment necessary to achieve these goals, and to stand ready to address new challenges.
I am — and always will be — your advocate.
In closing, I want to stress how grateful I am for the opportunity I have had to work with you over the past five years.
Without a doubt, this is the most challenging job I have ever had. But the challenges are worth facing.
Indeed, we are all very proud of what we have accomplished together. And with your support and guidance — and that of my staff and colleagues throughout WHO — I am confident we can accomplish even more during a second term.
I am eager to spend five more years taking on the Region's health challenges — and bringing us even closer to attainment of the highest possible health for ALL the 1.8 billion people of the Western Pacific Region.
Thank you.