Before I start my presentation, please allow me to respectfully extend my heartfelt gratitude to all of you today for your support in my election as the WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific. Without your support, this Pacific dream would not have been possible. And I commit to doing my best to serve our Region and to make our Pacific family proud.
In order for the engagement to be as useful as can be, we have deliberately approached the two papers for health and education in a similar way. We have focused on key challenges and issues that are difficult to address from sector specific efforts. We also wanted to align the presentation to the meeting’s theme on resilience as well as ensuring it is also aligned with the priorities of the Sustainable Development Goals, 2050 Strategy1 and the Pacific Health Ministers Meeting2.
The first big issue is infrastructure, and the impact of climate change on health. The COP263 Special Report on Climate Change – The Health Argument for Climate Action, as well as the special sessions on climate change and health during COP28 last year, speak to the importance of addressing the impacts of climate change on health. The papers before you focus on resilient infrastructure since this is a risk area for us in the Pacific region.
A recent review of 76 hospitals in 14 Pacific island nations found that 62% of them were within 500 metres of the sea or a river, putting them at risk of inundation and flooding. We have good examples of health facilities having to be moved because of these risks. Here in Tonga, with the support of ADB4 through one of their climate change resilience projects, we were able to move our hospital in Ha’apai from the seaside where it was often subject to inundation, to the highest point of the island. In Niue, after Cyclone Heta, they moved the hospital from the coastal area inland. In Nauru and Fiji, they moved hospitals near the river inland because of the risk and the impact of climate change.
The second issue for health is human resources. Without adequate human resources, it is difficult to provide adequate health services. Human resources challenges including ‘brain sharing’ or ‘brain drain’ are a reality for most of our nations. You can see from the graph that many of our nations don’t meet the recommended level of staff, and on top of that, many are leaving for opportunities abroad. Over the past year for example, over 1000 nurses have left from five countries, namely: Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Tonga and Tuvalu. And I’m sure it happens to our neighbouring countries as well. The proposed efforts are focused on retention measures and quality of training. Train your health workers so they don’t leave. Treat them well so they don’t want to.
The last important issue is noncommunicable diseases. The fact that NCDs are the biggest health challenge should come as no surprise to many of us. After all, our Region is often called the ‘NCD capital of the world’ given that we top the lists for highest prevalence of obesity, diabetes and other NCDs. Around 7 out of 10 deaths in our Region are due to NCDs, so the burden is real. Without significant acceleration of efforts to address NCDs, we will continue to lose many of our people prematurely.
I now want to end my presentation with one of the meeting quotes. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.
I thank you, Chair, for the opportunity this morning.
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