Zealand – 9 October 2019
“Health ministers from 37 countries have just endorsed a five-year plan from the World Health Organisation to make the Western Pacific a healthier, safer region.
“Takeshi Kasai, WHO's Regional Director for the Western Pacific, started his five-year term early this year and has written the new policy in response to current and future health challenges facing the region.
“WHO was working with its member states to address key threats to human health in the coming five years and Dr Kasai had identified four broad themes needing urgent attention.
“The first key issue was health security, he said, including antimicrobial resistance.
"The second is non-communicable diseases, together with ageing. Third is the health impacts of climate change and environmental health. And the fourth is 'reach and reach'.
"There are still populations our services haven't reached, and still afflicted by so-called communicable diseases, or still recording high maternal and child mortality."
Copyright @ 2019, Radio New Zealand
