By Kemo Cham
[First published on www.politicosl.com] The 2016 World Health
Assembly (WHA) ended on Wednesday with the passing of three new resolutions on
air pollution, epilepsy, and the assembly’s future engagement with non-state
actors.
Delegates at the end of the three
days global meeting of health experts and government officials adopted a
resolution to address the health impacts of air pollution, described by the
World Health Organization (WHO) as the world’s largest single environmental
health risk. They also agreed to strengthen ongoing efforts to provide care for
people suffering from epilepsy, and set in motion work on the framework of
dealing with non-state actors.
The WHA is the decision-making body
of WHO, which is the United Nations agency responsible for coordinating global
health responses. The Assembly, which is convened annually in Geneva,
Switzerland, determines the policies of the WHO, appoints its Director-General,
supervises its financial policies, and reviews and approve its proposed
programme budget. It is attended by
delegations from all 194 WHO member states.
The discussions are usually focused on a specific health agenda prepared by the
Executive Board of the WHO, which is its supreme governing body.
Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General
of WHO, in her opening statement of the Assembly on Monday celebrated major
achievements like the drop in the rates of infant and maternal mortality, and
the drop in cases of tuberculosis.
“Commitment to the Millennium
Development Goals brought focus, energy, creative innovation, and above all
money to bear on some of the biggest health challenges that marred the start of
this century,” she said.
“We can celebrate the 19 000 fewer
children dying every day, the 44% drop in maternal mortality, and the 85% of
tuberculosis cases that are successfully cured.”
Dr Chan singled out Africa for
registering 60% decline in malaria mortality, crediting the African Union
inspired African Leaders Malaria Alliance initiative for the achievement. She
also spoke on improvement in life-saving treatment for HIV. But she sounded
warning for recurrent threats, like Ebola, air pollution, drug resistant
pathogens, MERS coronavirus, Zika and yellow fever.
“In an interconnected world
characterized by profound mobility of people and goods, few threats to health
are local anymore,” she said.
“Air pollution is a transboundary
hazard that affects the global atmosphere and contributes to climate change.”
“The rapidly evolving outbreak of
Zika warns us that an old disease that slumbered for 6 decades in Africa and
Asia can suddenly wake up on a new continent to cause a global health
emergency.”
This is said to be the first time
the Assembly has debated on air pollution as a topic. And WHO said the
resolution highlights the key role national health authorities needed to play
in raising awareness about the potential to save lives and reduce health costs,
if air pollution is addressed effectively.
According to WHO figures, every year
4.3 million deaths occur from exposure to indoor air pollution and 3.7 million
deaths are attributable to outdoor air pollution.
The WHA resolution stressed the need
for strong cooperation between different sectors and integration of health
concerns into all national, regional and local air pollution-related policies.
It urged member states to develop air quality monitoring systems and health
registries to improve surveillance for all illnesses related to air pollution;
promote clean cooking, heating and lighting technologies and fuels; and
strengthen international transfer of expertise, technologies and scientific
data in the field of air pollution.
According to the resolution, the WHO
Secretariat should work towards strengthening its technical capacities to
support member states in taking action on air pollution. This includes further
building capacity to: implement the “WHO air quality guidelines” and “WHO
indoor air quality guidelines; conduct cost-benefit assessment of
mitigation measures; and advance research into air pollution’s health effects
and effectiveness.
The UN health agency was expected,
at the 2016 Assembly, to propose a road map for an enhanced global response by
the health sector with a view to reducing the adverse health effects of air
pollution.
On epilepsy, the medical condition
associated with brain disorder, delegates endorsed a resolution urging member
states to strengthen their ongoing efforts in providing care for people with
epilepsy.
Epilepsy is neurological disorder
which leads to recurrent seizures. In Sierra Leone there are thought to be
between 60, 000 and 80, 000 sufferers, according to the Epilepsy Association.
Although affordable treatment for
epilepsy exists, up to 90% of people with the condition may not be properly
diagnosed or treated in resource-poor settings like Sierra Leone. This WHA
resolution therefore highlights the need for governments to formulate,
strengthen and implement national policies and legislation to promote and
protect the rights of people with epilepsy, said WHO in a statement. It added
that it also stresses the need to reinforce health information and surveillance
systems to get a clearer picture of the burden of disease and to measure
progress in improving access to care.
The resolution calls for training of
non-specialist health-care providers as a key measure to reducing the epilepsy
treatment gap. In low- and middle-income settings, strategies to improve access
and affordability of antiepileptic medicines should be a priority, it said,
encouraging countries to undertake public awareness activities to reduce
misconceptions about epilepsy and encourage more people to seek treatment. It
also calls for the building of the research capacity of low- and middle-income
countries through the expansion of academic collaboration and establishment of
centres of excellence.
The relationship between WHO and its
partner organizations – the non-state actors (nongovernmental organizations,
private sector entities, philanthropic foundations and academic institutions),
was also a major point of discussion at the Assembly. A draft framework of
engagement reached by the delegates was due to be finalized for adoption.
The WHO Secretariat was tasked to
develop a register of non-State actors for next year’s Health Assembly.
(C) Politico 26/05/16
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