Manila, 14 October 2008—In a bid to address weaknesses in health systems, the World Health Organization has urged countries to return to the basics of patient care by re-focusing on primary health care and a holistic approach to healing.

The call came in the wake of an assessment contained in the World Health Report 2008, which noted that many health systems have lost their focus on equitable access to care and their capacity to meet the needs and expectations of people, especially the poor and marginalized groups.

According to the report, annual government expenditure on health varies from as low as US$20 per person in some countries to over US$ 6000. At the same time, life expectancy has further widened between the richest and the poorest countries, and now exceeds 40 years. In addition, of the estimated 136 million women who will give birth this year, around 58 million will not receive medical assistance during childbirth and the postpartum period, endangering their lives and that of their families.

"It is clear that left on their own, health systems do not gravitate naturally towards the goals of health for all," the report says. "Rather than improving their response capacity and anticipating new challenges, health systems seem to be drifting from one short-term priority to another, increasingly fragmented and without a clear sense of direction."

The report says inequitable access, impoverishing costs, and an erosion of trust in health care constitute a threat to social stability. This is more evident when health is treated as a commercial commodity as reflected in unnecessary tests and procedures, more and longer hospital stays, higher costs, and the exclusion of people who cannot pay.

MANILA, 23 September 2008—The outgoing head of the World Health Organization’s Western Pacific Region today identified the need to strengthen health systems and to prepare for climate change as two of the gravest health challenges facing countries in the Asia Pacific region.

In his final address to the Regional Committee, WHO's governing body in the Western Pacific, Regional Director Dr Shigeru Omi said significant progress had been made on a number of health fronts, including the fight against communicable diseases. However, much work remains to be done on other issues.

MANILA, 22 September 2008—Dr Shin Young-Soo of the Republic of Korea was today nominated to be the World Health Organization's next Regional Director for the Western Pacific.

The Regional Committee for the Western Pacific, WHO's governing body in the Region, nominated Dr Shin at its annual meeting here.

Dr Shin is scheduled to take up his new post on 1 February 2009, succeeding Dr Shigeru Omi, 59, who has served as the Western Pacific's Regional Director for the past 10 years.

Tokyo, 21 July 2008—The World Health Organization (WHO) warned today that the failure of Asian nations to combat the spread of highly lethal, drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis (TB) was a threat to global public health security.

Only 1% of the estimated 150 000 people with multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) in WHO’s Western Pacific Region, which covers East Asia and the Pacific, are getting appropriate treatment. Each untreated TB patient could infect five to 10 people a year.

MDR-TB raises the risk of a TB epidemic that would be costly and complex to control. Drugs to treat MDR-TB are about 100 times more costly than the regimen for normal TB.

• Home
• WHO in the Western Pacific
• Regional Director
• Countries and areas
• Health topics
• Programmes and special initiatives
• Publications and documents
• Library and information sources
• Media centre