Political unrest threatens world health

Daniel Zimmermann, DTI

Wed. 23. January 2008

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LEIPZIG, Germany: The Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr Margaret Chan, has warned that political unrest and violence in different parts of the world can threaten public health services. In her address during the biannual WHO Executive Board session earlier this year, she said that recent upheaval in Kenya or Gaza would disrupt routine health services and compromise access to basic and emergency care.

It also causes setbacks in the fight against HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and other diseases that constantly require monitoring and action, she added. Chan cited, however, that increasing willingness of development partners, UN agencies, and funding facilities to invest in health systems are a “striking and welcome change from the past.”

Other topics on the session’s agenda were the international migration of health personnel, the implementation of international health regulations, and the spread of drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis in Eastern Europe, parts of Central Asia, and China. Dr Chan reported that the global annual incidence of tuberculosis has stabilized in some parts of the world and may even be declining. “Control efforts are paying off,” she said, “but its emergence reminds us to be prepared for setbacks arising from the constantly changing microbial world.”

Chan also repeated her view that the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), or bird flu, remains a threat throughout the Asia Pacific region. In countries like Vietnam or Indonesia, more than 300 people have already been infected and 212 killed by the virus.

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