Health leaders gather in Paro for WHO regional session

 Kathmandu, Sept. 5

Health leaders, at the Seventy-fifth Session of the Regional Committee for WHO South-East Asia that began in Paro, Bhutan, on Monday, have emphasised on continued efforts and sustainable recovery from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

There are enough lessons for us to know that we cannot do without investing more in health hereafter, said Dr. Lotay Tshering, Prime Minister of Bhutan, at the inaugural session, according to a statement issued by the regional office of the WHO.

“Our health system must be more resilient, accessible and there should be collective actions,” he said.
 
In a virtual address, WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said “The pandemic is not yet over. The virus is still circulating, and still changing. If the pandemic has taught us nothing else, it has taught us that health is the most precious commodity on earth. A commodity that must be cherished, prized and fought for every day. Not as a luxury for the privileged, but as a fundamental human right.”

Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia, said, “How we as a Region choose to recover from the COVID-19 crisis will determine how we protect our many public health achievements, from maintaining our polio-free status, to continuing to eliminate NTDs and other diseases on the verge of elimination, be it lymphatic filariasis, kala-azar, trachoma or malaria. So much is at stake and so much depends on the decisions we make now, and in the weeks and months ahead.”

The Regional Committee is meeting in-person for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to strengthening preparedness and response to public health emergency, the session will deliberate and review other priority health issues, many of them impacted or accentuated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the five-day session, a ministerial roundtable will discuss on addressing mental health through primary care and community engagement in the Region.

Also on the agenda are monitoring progress and acceleration plan for NCDs, including oral health and integrated eye care; accelerating elimination of cervical cancer; and reviewing progress towards achieving the 2025 end-TB targets.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 6 September 2022.