Health ministers from 11 Southeast Asia WHO countries meet in Sri Lanka
The Health Ministers from 11 World Health Organization (WHO) member nations from the South-East Asia Region are meeting from September 5 to 9 in Colombo, Sri Lanka to set the region’s health priorities.
According to a WHO press release, a key agenda at the 69th WHO Regional Committee meeting, the highest policymaking body of WHO in the Region, will be non-communicable diseases like cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases, which kill nearly 8.5 million people every year and are the leading cause of deaths in the region.
Another key agenda of the meeting will be accelerating improvements in health in the era of Sustainable Development Goals, with the focus on the most vulnerable.
The region will also be a greater push for time-bound elimination of diseases as the region has already eliminated maternal and neonatal tetanus.Individual countries also witnessed major wins such as elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis by Thailand despite an ongoing HIV epidemic; elimination of lymphatic filariasis by Maldives and Sri Lanka; yaws by India; and malaria by Maldives.
The health leaders will also deliberate on tackling anti-microbial resistance (AMR)as a priority with a multi-sectoral approach involving food, agriculture and animal sectors, in addition to the health sector.
Another focus that will be discussed in the meeting is ending preventable maternal and child mortality, addressing the double burden of malnutrition and health of migrant populations.
WHO’s recent emergency reforms and further strengthening of core capacities by countries under the International Health Regulations for responding to health emergencies will be other key areas to be discussed and emphasized upon.
The Regional Committee meets annually and is hosted by one of the 11 Member countries of WHO South-East Asia Region, with Sri Lanka hosting the event this year. The WHO Regional Committee meeting, the highest policy making body of WHO in the Region
