Bangkok--19 Mar--UNISBKK
Countries need to rethink their health systems in a regional context, ESCAP chief says
To more effectively contain spread of disease, address reasons and causes of illness
Countries need to rethink their public health systems in a regional context to be in better positions to deal with common cross-border issues such as the spread of highly infectious diseases and to address the reasons why people become ill in the first place, the top United Nations official in Asia and the Pacific said today.
“There are many reasons which make it imperative that regional cooperation initiatives be put in place to achieve health related objectives,” said Noeleen Heyzer, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
Dr. Heyzer noted that countries’ health systems are expected to operate and deliver in rapidly changing contexts, particularly in handling the spread of disease in an increasingly interconnected world. “No matter how strong and effective the health system of one country, there is no guarantee that it would provide protection from pandemics [such as SARS, avian influenza and H1N1] if your neighbours are exposed,” she told the conference on “Strengthening Health and Non-Health Response Systems in Asia,” which runs through tomorrow in Singapore.
“It is no longer possible to safeguard your health without helping your neighbours do the same,” she stressed, urging countries also to put greater investment in tackling the structural shortcomings in public health infrastructures as well as to provide access to medical supplies such as vaccines and pharmaceuticals.
Dr. Heyzer said it is imperative to deal with the social and economic determinants of health, which are those conditions that make people sick and in need of medical care in the first place, such as universal access to affordable medical care.
Health has also become a tool of foreign policy, and needs to be an essential factor when considering policies in such sectors as agriculture, trade, education, industry and communications. In other words, if health systems are to achieve their expected outcomes, countries need to be developing a “non-health” response to disease to complement efforts within the health sector.
Decisions made outside the health sector significantly affect health issues, she said, noting, for example, trade policies can determine a country’s ability to produce affordable life-saving drugs and vaccines, or influence the flow of health workers from one country to another.
Region-wide, there are many initiatives that can be devoted to the address the disparities in the achievement of health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the wide variations in the capacity of health systems to tackle the spread of newly emerging infectious diseases.
“Countries which have stronger health systems will need to work closely with the weaker countries to ensure that levels of investment in health increase, the number and quality of health workers improve and that the overall capacity of health systems to deal with infectious diseases is of the same level,” she said. In the same way, regional arrangements and stockpiles can be established to ensure vaccines and drugs are affordable for all countries.
As the regional arm of the UN and one of the two regional commissions working on economic as well as social issues, ESCAP has focused on addressing the multi-sectoral determinants of health and has advocated for universal health-care coverage as part of a coherent social protection package for countries in the Asia-Pacific region, Dr. Heyzer said.
“It cannot be business as usual,” she said, stressing that in this era of connectivity healthcare systems need to be transformed by promoting innovations, brokering partnerships and strengthening resilience at the regional level. “Our common goal is the security, shared prosperity and health of the people of this region, and the welfare of all lies in the welfare of each.”
For more information please contact:
Mr. Mitch Hsieh
UN/ESCAP Information Services
Tel: +66-2-288-1862
Email:
[email protected]