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FIJI - Lesson to learn from birds
FIJI - Lesson to learn from birds
http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=58702
VERENAISI RAICOLA
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
REGIONAL health officials from 21 Pacific Island countries including Fiji are meeting in Vanuatu this week to discuss ways to promote a healthy region in order to strengthen the fight against diseases.
Director of Public Health Doctor Timaima Tuiketei is representing Fiji at the four-day meeting that started yesterday (March 12-15) in Port Vila.
Interim Health Minister Doctor Jona Senilagakali said he was invited to attend but chose to stay in Fiji to address issues related to local health.
A ministerial conference on health for the Pacific Islands was convened in Fiji in 1995 which resulted in the Yanuca Declaration.
The declaration endorsed the concept of healthy islands' as the unifying theme for health promotion and protection.
This week's meeting is jointly organised by the World Health Organisation and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community.
According to WHO, a strategy for the Pacific has been proposed as an important tool for improving health in Pacific Island countries by complementing and strengthening national health plans and strategies.
Dr Senilagakali said Fiji had no problem because it was complying with WHO standards on local health issues.
A WHO paper suggests the Pacific is undergoing a demographic transition where the birth and mortality rate continues to decline.
In Pacific Island countries, non-communicable diseases and their common risk factors are the leading causes of death, disease and disability.
In Melanesian and Micronesian countries, infectious diseases are the major cause of death.
"Diarrhoea and tuberculosis are major concerns in these countries and HIV/AIDS is a particular problem in PNG," the report says.
"Maternal and childhood mortality also continue to cause significant problems in Melanesian countries.
"Injuries are a major cause of death and disability in some Pacific Islands."
The report on the Millennium Goals in the Pacific region showed some Pacific Island countries were unlikely to achieve the health-related goals by 2015 without additional financial support.
"Security concerns and political instability in several countries threatens the gains that have been made," the report says.
"These indicators all suggest that much more needs to be done in order to improve health in the region and offset some of the adverse effects of poor economic performance, political instability, urbanisation, globalisation and fragile health systems."
It says health systems in Fiji and Pacific Island countries remain fragile and poorly-funded, largely because of low investment in health care.
"The situation is compounded by the high cost of providing health care services to small population groups, scattered across rural and remote areas and outer islands."
Health systems in the region remained oriented toward costly curative services and essential public health functions such as health promotion, and population-based prevention were not well supported.
Under the revised International Health Regulations (IHR) 2005, all countries have to assess by June 2009 the ability of existing national structures and resources.
Based on that assessment, countries would be able to develop and implement plans of action to ensure core capacities in these areas were present and functioning.
One of the core obligations under the regulation is that member states have in place a plan to identify and combat any outbreak of bird flu.
In the Pacific, a WHO workshop on IHR and pandemic influenza preparedness was held in November 2005, in Fiji.
Top health officials at the workshop agreed that national and public health capacity was essential to implementing the aims of the health regulation.
They recommended that the process of assessing national and local capacities and developing work plans for capacity strengthening, should be started as soon as possible.
The WHO report stated the Asia-Pacific region was at the epicentre of many emerging infectious diseases, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), avian flu and dengue fever.
"Emerging diseases continue to pose serious health threats and have the potential to create substantial economic and social disruption in the region," said the report.
The Asia-Pacific Strategy for Emerging Diseases (APSED), drawn up in 2005, is aimed at giving countries a strategic directions for improving health systems needed to detect and prevent emerging diseases.
Last year, the implementation of APSED was developed and endorsed by the first meeting of the Asia-Pacific Technical Advisory Group (TAG) for emerging infectious diseases.
This meant all countries of the Asia-Pacific region would have a minimum capacity for epidemic alert and response by 2010.
In September last year the regional committee for the Western Pacific reviewed the TAG recommendations related to the APSED work plan and urged member states to comply.
WHO said the country plan should be able to meet the surveillance and response capacity development obligations required under IHR (2005).
With the support of donor agencies, SPC has worked closely with WHO and other partners to help Pacific Island countries develop their national and local plans to respond to avian influenza and prepare for the next pandemic.
In addition, the Pacific Regional Influenza Pandemic Preparedness Project involving animal and human health services was initiated last year.
WHO says emerging infectious diseases remain significant public health threats in many Pacific Island countries.
Outbreaks of epidemic prone diseases such as measles, dengue fever, typhoid fever, influenza, cholera and leptospirosis continue to occur in the Pacific.
For example, in Fiji a significant measles outbreak involving 132 cases happened in 2006.
Avian influenza virus has become endemic in domestic birds in many parts of Asia.
The wide spread of the virus to many countries in other regions including Africa, Europe and the Middle East, represents a significant threat to human health.
Up until January this year, 267 human bird flu cases, including 161 deaths, were reported from 10 countries.
Although much progress has been made to control the influenza, the pandemic threat was still there.
WHO said although no country in the Pacific was affected by outbreaks of SARS and avian influenza, the Pacific remained vulnerable to emerging new diseases including pandemic influenza.
"The lessons learnt from SARS and avian influenza demonstrates that infectious diseases can continue to emerge somewhere in the world, can spread rapidly across national borders and regions including the Pacific and can adversely affect economic development, trade, and tourism and social stability.
http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=58702
VERENAISI RAICOLA
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
REGIONAL health officials from 21 Pacific Island countries including Fiji are meeting in Vanuatu this week to discuss ways to promote a healthy region in order to strengthen the fight against diseases.
Director of Public Health Doctor Timaima Tuiketei is representing Fiji at the four-day meeting that started yesterday (March 12-15) in Port Vila.
Interim Health Minister Doctor Jona Senilagakali said he was invited to attend but chose to stay in Fiji to address issues related to local health.
A ministerial conference on health for the Pacific Islands was convened in Fiji in 1995 which resulted in the Yanuca Declaration.
The declaration endorsed the concept of healthy islands' as the unifying theme for health promotion and protection.
This week's meeting is jointly organised by the World Health Organisation and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community.
According to WHO, a strategy for the Pacific has been proposed as an important tool for improving health in Pacific Island countries by complementing and strengthening national health plans and strategies.
Dr Senilagakali said Fiji had no problem because it was complying with WHO standards on local health issues.
A WHO paper suggests the Pacific is undergoing a demographic transition where the birth and mortality rate continues to decline.
In Pacific Island countries, non-communicable diseases and their common risk factors are the leading causes of death, disease and disability.
In Melanesian and Micronesian countries, infectious diseases are the major cause of death.
"Diarrhoea and tuberculosis are major concerns in these countries and HIV/AIDS is a particular problem in PNG," the report says.
"Maternal and childhood mortality also continue to cause significant problems in Melanesian countries.
"Injuries are a major cause of death and disability in some Pacific Islands."
The report on the Millennium Goals in the Pacific region showed some Pacific Island countries were unlikely to achieve the health-related goals by 2015 without additional financial support.
"Security concerns and political instability in several countries threatens the gains that have been made," the report says.
"These indicators all suggest that much more needs to be done in order to improve health in the region and offset some of the adverse effects of poor economic performance, political instability, urbanisation, globalisation and fragile health systems."
It says health systems in Fiji and Pacific Island countries remain fragile and poorly-funded, largely because of low investment in health care.
"The situation is compounded by the high cost of providing health care services to small population groups, scattered across rural and remote areas and outer islands."
Health systems in the region remained oriented toward costly curative services and essential public health functions such as health promotion, and population-based prevention were not well supported.
Under the revised International Health Regulations (IHR) 2005, all countries have to assess by June 2009 the ability of existing national structures and resources.
Based on that assessment, countries would be able to develop and implement plans of action to ensure core capacities in these areas were present and functioning.
One of the core obligations under the regulation is that member states have in place a plan to identify and combat any outbreak of bird flu.
In the Pacific, a WHO workshop on IHR and pandemic influenza preparedness was held in November 2005, in Fiji.
Top health officials at the workshop agreed that national and public health capacity was essential to implementing the aims of the health regulation.
They recommended that the process of assessing national and local capacities and developing work plans for capacity strengthening, should be started as soon as possible.
The WHO report stated the Asia-Pacific region was at the epicentre of many emerging infectious diseases, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), avian flu and dengue fever.
"Emerging diseases continue to pose serious health threats and have the potential to create substantial economic and social disruption in the region," said the report.
The Asia-Pacific Strategy for Emerging Diseases (APSED), drawn up in 2005, is aimed at giving countries a strategic directions for improving health systems needed to detect and prevent emerging diseases.
Last year, the implementation of APSED was developed and endorsed by the first meeting of the Asia-Pacific Technical Advisory Group (TAG) for emerging infectious diseases.
This meant all countries of the Asia-Pacific region would have a minimum capacity for epidemic alert and response by 2010.
In September last year the regional committee for the Western Pacific reviewed the TAG recommendations related to the APSED work plan and urged member states to comply.
WHO said the country plan should be able to meet the surveillance and response capacity development obligations required under IHR (2005).
With the support of donor agencies, SPC has worked closely with WHO and other partners to help Pacific Island countries develop their national and local plans to respond to avian influenza and prepare for the next pandemic.
In addition, the Pacific Regional Influenza Pandemic Preparedness Project involving animal and human health services was initiated last year.
WHO says emerging infectious diseases remain significant public health threats in many Pacific Island countries.
Outbreaks of epidemic prone diseases such as measles, dengue fever, typhoid fever, influenza, cholera and leptospirosis continue to occur in the Pacific.
For example, in Fiji a significant measles outbreak involving 132 cases happened in 2006.
Avian influenza virus has become endemic in domestic birds in many parts of Asia.
The wide spread of the virus to many countries in other regions including Africa, Europe and the Middle East, represents a significant threat to human health.
Up until January this year, 267 human bird flu cases, including 161 deaths, were reported from 10 countries.
Although much progress has been made to control the influenza, the pandemic threat was still there.
WHO said although no country in the Pacific was affected by outbreaks of SARS and avian influenza, the Pacific remained vulnerable to emerging new diseases including pandemic influenza.
"The lessons learnt from SARS and avian influenza demonstrates that infectious diseases can continue to emerge somewhere in the world, can spread rapidly across national borders and regions including the Pacific and can adversely affect economic development, trade, and tourism and social stability.