Bangkok--27 Apr--UNISBKK
At least 200 participants, among them, government ministers, health experts, policymakers, NGOs and business representatives will converge in Beijing on 29-30 April for the United Nations Asia-Pacific Regional Ministerial Meeting — “Promoting Health Literacy.”
The two-day event is part of a series of regional meetings planned in the run up to the 2009 Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Annual Ministerial Review (AMR), which this year will focus on the theme of “Implementing the internationally agreed goals and commitments in regard to global public health”, to be held in Geneva on 6-9 July 2009. The government of Sri Lanka recently held a two-day South Asia regional meeting focusing on health care financing. In Beijing, the meeting is expected to lead to the strengthening of collaboration of countries in Asia and the Pacific at national, regional and international levels, and initiate joint actions to increasing health literacy.
The regional meeting will address access to and the efficient use of health information and will also assess best practices that demonstrate the impact of literacy in public health.
Improving access and the use of information, communication, and technology (ICT) has become the driving force in health literacy worldwide. It empowers people to acquire better health conditions through improved health literacy. The Beijing event will also address the current level of use of ICT and sustainable use of it. Again, the delegates will look into the role of the press in the Asia Pacific region in empowering people to better health.
The event will be organized around two plenary panels on “The challenges of health literacy in Asia and the Pacific: Where do we stand?”, and “Presentations of best practices and new initiatives on health literacy”.
Three interactive panel discussions will also be held on “Promoting multi-sectoral actions”, “Promoting health literacy through the media and empowerment”, and “Building capacity to increase health literacy”.
Chinese Health Minister Chen Zhu will address the opening of the meeting on Wednesday, 29 April. ECOSOC President Sylvie Lucas, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Sha Zukang, and World Health Organization Assistant Director-General Ala Alwan are also expected to speak. Health Ministers from Afghanistan and Thailand will participate as panelists.
The government of China is hosting the meeting with cooperation from United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP).
The United Nations country team will organize a press conference at the UN premises in Beijing at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 30 April 2009.),
Meeting proceedings, summaries, press conferences and other official documents— will be made available through:
www.un.org/ecosoc/newfunct/amr2009china.shtml
For more information, contact:
Li Jie, Ministry of Health, People's Republic of China, [email protected] Vivian Tan, World Health Organization-China, +86 10 6532 7191, [email protected] Brian Thomson., UN Information Services, ESCAP, +66 02 288 1862 [email protected] Newton Kanhema, UN Department of Public Information, +1 212 963 5602, [email protected] Paul Simon, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, +1 917 367 5027, [email protected]
About the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) ECOSOC is the principal United Nations body for coordinating and reviewing economic and social policies, providing advice and fostering dialogue on development issues. The Annual Ministerial Review, which was mandated at the 2005 World Summit, assesses the progress made in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the other goals and targets agreed at the major UN conferences and summits over the past 15 years, which constitute the United Nations Development Agenda (UNDA). Each year, the AMR focuses on a specific aspect of the UNDA. For more information, visit www.un.org/ecosoc.; www.un.org/ecosoc/newfunct/amr.shtml; or www.un.org/ecosoc/docs/pdfs/ECOSOC_BROCHURE_en.pdf.
ESCAP - Commemorating 60 years in Thailand
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