The Fifty-third Session of the Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean is scheduled to convene in Isfahan, Islamic Republic of Iran, during the period from Saturday, 9 to Tuesday, 12 September 2006. The meeting is being hosted in Isfahan at the kind invitation of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The Regional Committee is the WHO governing body at the regional level. It comprises, as members, all Ministers of Health in Member States or their alternates, who will meet to set policies and approve programmes and budgets in the Region. They will be discussing major health-related issues that have arisen in the Region during the year since the closing of the last session of the Regional Committee and following up the implementation of the recommendations made to the Director-General, Regional Director and Member States.
The inaugural session of the Regional Committee will take place in the Abbasi Hotel, Isfahan, on 9 September 2006 at 9:00 a.m., under the patronage of H.E. Dr Parvis Davoodi, Vice-President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, who will be attending the ceremony.
Emergency preparedness and response will top the agenda this year, in light of the disasters, wars and conflicts which many countries of the Region have recently experienced. These include the Pakistan earthquake, Darfur crisis and the recent war on Lebanon. A progress report on the subject reviews what has been implemented with regard to enhancing country preparedness for emergencies, an issue that was the subject of a resolution of the 52nd Session of the Regional Committee.
There are four diseases that have been globally targeted for elimination by Member States in collaboration with WHO: tuberculosis, measles, leprosy and neonatal tetanus. Four progress reports will follow up the latest steps taken to eliminate these diseases and the obstacles being faced.
Control and prevention of HIV/AIDS, tobacco control, poliomyelitis eradication and strengthening efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals are main challenges facing health officials in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. Some progress has been achieved in developing an integrated framework for action to tackle some of these issues, such as tobacco control. More countries have ratified the WHO Framework Convention for Tobacco Control; however, activation of the Convention is still in the preliminary stages. Significant progress has been made in polio eradication in the Region, with Egypt declared polio-free after a long battle with the deeply-rooted virus. Pakistan and Afghanistan are still working towards achieving this goal, while other countries that were previously declared polio-free, such as Somalia and Sudan, are fighting to stop outbreaks due to viruses transmitted from neighbouring countries.
Activities initiated under the “3 by 5” initiative to provide treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS are continuing, with universal access to prevention, care and treatment as the new goal. Efforts towards improving maternal and child health are making progress and need further support within the framework of the Millennium Development Goals. More detailed information about these health issues will be reviewed by the Regional Committee in its meeting in Isfahan.
The achievement of health for all and moving forward with primary health care are two long-term goals of WHO that have been renewed in past sessions of the Regional Committee. To what extent have Member States succeeded in moving forward towards achieving these goals? The answer is included in another progress report during the upcoming Regional Committee session.
Pandemic influenza preparedness will figure high on the agenda of the 53rd Session of the Regional Committee, as well as the public health problems of alcohol consumption in the Region and the regional strategy for knowledge management to support public health. The Regional Committee will also review the Iranian experience in integrating medical education and health services.
The details and features of activities implemented by the Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean during the past year will be the subject of thorough discussion and evaluation by the Regional Committee. Dr Hussein A. Gezairy, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, will review the annual report for 2005.
On the sidelines of the Regional Committee meeting, a book fair will be held offering recent WHO publications, and will include the launching of the Arabic version of the WHO report Preventing chronic diseases: a vital investment. The book fair will also showcase the latest WHO media productions in the field of health awareness. This includes audiovisual materials, posters and publications produced by the Regional Office on different health issues.