A Partner to the Pacific at the World Health Organization - A FijiSun OpEd written By Dr. Tedros
This week health leaders from around the region will be gathering in Suva for the Pacific Community Heads of Health meeting. Though there are many priorities on the agenda, three jumped at me because of their importance for the region and the role I believe the World Health Organization can — and must — play in making progress on them.
The first is universal health coverage, which would be my top priority if I am elected Director-General of the WHO. This region has made a strong commitment to universal health coverage with the Regional Committee for the Western Pacific endorsing a regional action framework on this topic. That said, my conversations with leaders throughout the region have highlighted key challenges particularly where populations are small and often geographically isolated from one another. I believe the WHO can help here, documenting and sharing lessons regionally and globally where countries have overcome similar hurdles. WHO can also support strong regional and sub-regional organizations to help governments take global best practices and tailor them to their unique geographic, demographic and cultural contexts. And it can ensure universal health coverage is a priority at the highest levels of government to mobilize new resources around these efforts.
Second, there is no doubt that non-communicable disease (NCDs) are a critical challenge here as they are around the world. In addressing NCDs, I think I stand with the Pacific Community in believing first and foremost in prevention. We need to invest in evidence-based behavior change strategies which engage communities and individuals in their own health. In parallel, we also need to address the commercial determinants of health. And importantly, for both strategies, we need to develop new evidence around what works in NCD prevention — a gap I think Pacific Community countries can help fill particularly given their commitment to and focus on NCDs.
Lastly, I have included addressing the health impacts of climate change in my leadership priorities if elected Director-General, because it has and will increasingly have a negative impact on health outcomes around the world. This is especially true among Pacific Community countries where climate change threatens some islands’ very existence. Though the WHO is not the lead technical agency for climate change, considering its serious effects on health, I believe it must be a part of the solution. In particular, it can become a vocal advocate for mitigation strategies to address the root causes of climate change and work to amplify the voices of other agencies and groups.
Notably, across these priorities, none have an easy fix. All three will require political leadership, new financial resources, collaboration across sectors and stakeholders, strong country-ownership and work to engage communities. As a former Minister of Health myself from a region with high burdens of disease and limited resources, I understand the competing demands and decisions governments face when allocating often too scarce resources across many health priorities. But I believe the WHO can be a partner to Pacific Community countries in their quest to achieve health for all — truly listening to countries’ needs and challenges and working together to ensure everyone in the region can live healthy, productive lives. I hope I have a chance to be a partner in that effort as the next WHO Director-General.
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is Minister, Special Advisor to the Prime Minister of Ethiopia and Nominee for WHO Director-General. He previously served as Minister of Health and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia.
- This article originally appeared in the Sunday print edition of the FijiSun newspaper in Suva, Fiji on April 23, 2017.
You can read more about Dr. Tedros and his vision for a healthy world as #NextDG at his website: http://www.drtedros.com/ — and follow along with his campaign on social media at Facebook.com/DrTedros.Official and on Twitter at @DrTedros. Sign up for the campaign’s newsletter `From the Desk of Dr. Tedros’ at http://bit.ly/2nGWtLm.
