The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Committee for the Western Pacific today began its seventy-fourth session. Throughout the week-long meeting, health ministers and other high-level officials from across Asia and the Pacific will discuss and agree on actions by WHO and governments to address key health priorities for the Region. The Committee will also vote on Tuesday to nominate the next WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific.
Addressing the Regional Committee, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: “Excellencies, thank you all once again for your continued commitment to promoting, providing, protecting, powering and performing for health in the Western Pacific," said Dr Tedros. "This is a particularly important moment for the Region, as Member States prepare to elect a new Regional Director. In this very historic Regional Committee, I am pleased to note that the Region will have either its first female Regional Director, or its first Regional Director from the Pacific. I look forward to working closely with whomever you choose."
In her remarks to Member State representatives, Acting Regional Director for the Western Pacific, Dr Zsuzsanna Jakab, said: “It is a pleasure to have all of you here in Manila for the first fully in-person meeting of the Regional Committee since 2019. As you know, this year we are marking WHO’s 75th anniversary and celebrating a number of great public health achievements from the past three-quarters of a century. And we remain deeply committed to continuing our close work with you, our Member States and key partners, to achieve our shared goal of making this the safest and healthiest region. With that in mind, we have a packed agenda for the coming week. You will vote to nominate the next Regional Director for the Western Pacific, and consider for endorsement key documents on four technical agenda items of concern to the Region."
The Regional Committee will consider for endorsement strategies and frameworks to address health and social issues that have a major impact on the lives of the Region.
- health security
- health workforce
- communication for health
- health innovation
Delegates will also consider progress reports on health security, including COVID-19 and antimicrobial resistance; noncommunicable diseases and ageing; climate change, the environment and health; reaching the unreached; and advancing the For the Future vision to make the Western Pacific the world’s safest and healthiest region. In addition, side events on the environment and the WHO workforce will be held.
The Honourable Dato Dr Mohammad Isham Jaafar, Minister of Health of Brunei Darussalam was elected Chair for the seventy-fourth session of the Regional Committee. “I am truly honoured to be elected as Chair of the Regional Committee for the coming year, beginning with this week’s very important meeting. I thank the outgoing Chairperson, the Honourable Dr Bounfeng Phoummalaysith, Minister of Health of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, as well as the Vice-Chairperson, the Honourable Dr Saia Ma’u Piukala, Minister of Health of Tonga, and last year’s officers for their impressive work. I will do my utmost to exemplify leadership as chair of this year’s session.” Dr Sovd Tugsdelger, Acting State Secretary and Director of Department of Monitoring, Evaluation and Internal Audit, Ministry of Health of Mongolia, was elected Vice-Chair of the seventy-fourth session of the Regional Committee.
Day one of the meeting also featured a live performance by The Royal Melbourne Hospital Scrub Choir.
Notes to editors:
A livestream of the Regional Committee proceedings*, official documents, fact sheets and videos on the issues to be addressed this week can be accessed here. For real time updates, follow @WHOWPRO on Facebook, X (Twitter), and YouTube and the hashtag #RCM74.
*The vast majority of the Regional Committee meeting will be publicly livestreamed. However, the agenda item under which Member States will vote to nominate the next Regional Director will be private. The result of the vote is expected to be announced publicly on the evening of Tuesday 17 October.
Working with 194 Member States across six regions, WHO is the United Nations specialized agency responsible for public health. Each WHO region has its regional committee – a governing body composed of ministers of health and senior officials from the region’s Member States. Each regional committee meets annually to agree on health actions and chart priorities for WHO’s work.
The WHO Western Pacific Region is home to more than 1.9 billion people across 37 countries and areas in Asia and the Pacific: Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Cook Islands, Fiji, France (which has responsibility for French Polynesia, New Caledonia, and Wallis and Futuna), Hong Kong SAR (China), Japan, Kiribati, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Macao SAR (China), Malaysia, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Mongolia, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (which has responsibility for Pitcairn Islands), the United States of America (which has responsibility for American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam), Vanuatu and Viet Nam.