security could place international public health in peril unless
countries adopt a global health response to disease outbreaks and
other health-related concerns, the World Health Organization (WHO)
warns.
"Health and international security are closely intertwined. A danger
in one country can present a risk to communities on the other side of
the world," said Dr Shigeru Omi, WHO Regional Director for the Western
Pacific. "We must all work together to minimize the international
impact of infectious diseases by building up health capacity to
prevent, detect, report and respond to these threats."
Consequently, this year's theme for World Health Day is international
health security with the message that we must "invest in health, build
a safer future". Since 1950, WHO has spearheaded the worldwide
observance of World Health Day every 7 April to raise awareness of key
global health issues.
Emphasizing the importance of collective action, Dr Omi called for
faster and more transparent information sharing among countries and
urged rich nations to do more to help poor nations address risks to
international health security.
Countries should be more proactive in protecting populations from the
consequences of natural disasters, emerging diseases and other key
health-related issues, Dr Omi said. Of the six WHO regions, the
Western Pacific has been the most affected by disease outbreaks and
natural disasters, enduring one challenge after another in recent
years from SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and avian
influenza to volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, landslides, floods and
typhoons.
"Global health is at risk like never before," Dr Omi said. "On
average, a new infectious disease has emerged each year for the past
20 years, while old enemies, such as tuberculosis and other
communicable diseases are surging once more." The health situation is
compounded by chronic lifestyle diseases, natural disasters, the
threats of bioterrorism and phenomena such as climate change.
Underfunded health systems and the migration of skilled health workers
from developing to more affluent countries add to the already
overwhelming problem.
World Health Day 2007
INTERNATIONAL HEALTH SECURITY
Message of Dr Shigeru Omi,
WHO Regional Director for
the Western Pacific
Global health is at risk like never before. On average, a new
infectious disease has emerged each year for the past 20 years, while
old enemies such as tuberculosis and other communicable diseases are
surging once more. On top of this, chronic lifestyle diseases once
thought to be largely limited to the developed world are now a major
problem in developing countries. At the same time we are faced with
the problem of fragile and underfunded health systems – a dilemma that
has been made more acute by the migration of skilled health workers
from developing countries to more affluent societies.
Add to this the threat posed by natural disasters, bioterrorism and
such phenomena as climate change, and it becomes clear that urgent
action is needed if international public health is not to be
overwhelmed.
Of the World Health Organization's six regions, it is perhaps the
Western Pacific Region that has been the most affected by disease
outbreaks and natural disasters. In recent years, the Region has
endured one challenge after another, from SARS and avian influenza to
volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, landslides, floods and typhoons.
As we learned with SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and are
now seeing with avian influenza, communicable diseases do not stop at
national borders. SARS spread with explosive speed, starbursting from
a room in a hotel in Hong Kong (China) to affect more than 30
countries and areas within just a few months. Member States in the
Western Pacific felt the impact most of all, with more than 95% of the
global cases in our Region.
One of the lessons that SARS taught us was that public health systems
in many countries were simply not geared up to face an attack from
such a dangerous new disease. Surveillance and awareness were poor,
infection-control measures in hospitals had become lax and spending on
public health had not kept pace with needs.
Like SARS, avian influenza also emerged in the Western Pacific Region.
But, unlike SARS, which was mainly an urban phenomenon, avian
influenza has had a debilitating impact on the lives of the rural
poor. It has wiped out poultry populations, caused the culling of
hundreds of millions of other chickens and ducks to prevent its
spread, and in doing so has deprived thousands of families of their
meagre livelihoods.
Similarly, when natural disasters strike, it is often the poorest who
are hardest hit. For example, between September and December last
year, the Philippines was hit by a series of brutal typhoons. Some 310
000 homes were destroyed and another 302 000 were damaged. Communities
that had little in the first place were left with nothing at all.
Other countries in the Western Pacific Region have been similarly
battered by the wrath of nature.
From all this we can see that, these days, health and international
security are closely intertwined. A danger in one country can often
present a risk to communities on the other side of the world – as
could happen if the avian influenza virus presently circulating
principally in backyard farms in mainly poor countries develops the
ability to spread easily between humans and sets off a pandemic.
It is against this backdrop that the theme for World Health Day 2007
is International Health Security, with the message that we must
"invest in health, build for a safer future". What this means is that,
for example, we must all work together to minimize the international
health impact of infectious diseases by building up our capacity to
prevent, detect, report and respond to these threats. Equally, when
simple measures are available to halt the spread of communicable
diseases, it is our duty to apply them. We must also be more aware of
the dangers of environmental health hazards and work to prevent them.
And we must be more proactive in protecting populations from the
consequences of natural disasters.
This is not a task the World Health Organization can tackle alone.
Threats to international health have to be met with a concerted global
response. Collaboration between nations has to be strengthened.
Information needs to be shared more freely and more swiftly. And the
rich nations should be doing more to help the poor. We are all in this
together. Together, let's invest in a safer and healthier world.
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