DR OH YEON-CHEON, PRESIDENT OF SEOUL NATIONAL UNIVERSITY;
FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES… AND FORMER COLLEAGUES; LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:
It is a pleasure to be here to congratulate the Seoul National University School of Public Health for its designation as a WHO Collaborating Centre for Health System and Financing.
The School of Public Health enjoys an excellent reputation for its many contributions to health systems development. I am honoured to be among the many alumni of the university playing an important role in development.
In many ways, the School of Public Health is an engine of innovation and research. The school works to share this knowledge by helping build a regional network for addressing health challenges faced by many countries.
A regional expert meeting this past week is a good example of this type of bridge-building. With the WHO Regional Office, the school convened experts on Universal Health Coverage to discuss issues on health financing that effect many countries in the Region.
Last month, I visited Viet Nam for high-level talks on the country's health insurance system. I was honoured to meet with the Prime Minister and the Health Minister, as well as many members of the National Assembly.
Many of them mentioned with great appreciation the hands-on support from the School of Public Health in working to strengthen their country's health insurance system.
The university's promotion of evidence-based information sharing has made the school among the most active contributors to the Asia Pacific Observatory on health systems and policies.
Professors Soonman Kwon and Chang-yup Kim, in particular, merit special mention. They have been frequent collaborators with WHO – providing expert input in too many meetings and publications to name here.
This strong collaboration promises to be even more important going forward.
Now more than ever, governments are committed to working towards Universal Health Coverage – that is, access to good quality health services without creating financial hardship.
As the top priority for WHO and its Member States, Universal Health Coverage has become the overarching vision for health sector development.
Improving health for everyone helps reduce poverty and build social solidarity, national pride and trust in the government. Better health also safeguards broader development gains and investments.
The road to Universal Health Coverage, however, is different for every country. There is no one-size-fits-all solution – no single path for everyone.
Experience and expertise are the best guides for Member States.
Those are the strengths that the Seoul National University School of Public Health and WHO offer Member States on the path to Universal Health Coverage.
I am very appreciative of the active support the university provides Member States. I look forward to even stronger collaboration between WHO, the university and Member States as they develop more comprehensive health systems.
As such, it gives me great pleasure to strengthen our proud tradition of collaboration, now more formally as a WHO collaborating centre.
With even greater teamwork going forward, I am confident that together we will make even greater strides to improve the health of the people in the Western Pacific Region.
Thank you.