Southeast Asia to give health issues more priority
September 9th, 2011 - 8:46 pm ICT by IANSJaipur, Sep 9 (IANS) Health ministers and officials from 11 southeast Asian countries Friday resolved to give higher priority to key health issues like HIV-Aids, routine immunisation and nutrition in the region, a statement said.
Delegates attending the 64th session of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Committee for southeast Asia agreed on new strategic directions and passed resolutions on strengthening the community-based health workforce and the national essential drug policy.
“While 5 lakh children die each year from vaccine-preventable diseases in the region, about 10 million children are not covered by routine immunisation,” said the statement.
The delegates adopted a resolution to make 2012 the year of intensification of routine immunisation in the region to increase and sustain immunisation coverage and organise an annual immunisation week in April.
“Seventy percent of the world’s malnourished children reside in the SEA region. Many also suffer from several micronutrient deficiencies like iron and iodine,” the statement said.
According to WHO, the region has the second highest burden of HIV in the world after sub-Saharan Africa with an estimated 3.5 million infected people.
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- Government to intensify immunisation drive - Jan 16, 2012
- Aim to eliminate HIV-AIDS from South-East Asia by 2015: WHO (Dec 1 is World AIDS Day) - Nov 30, 2011
- Dip in AIDS deaths: UN report (Dec 1 is World AIDS Day) - Nov 30, 2011
- HIV/AIDS still a serious health problem: WHO - Dec 01, 2010
- Now, a tracking system for immunisation in India: Azad - Aug 02, 2011
- Low iodine levels in teen girls put future babies at risk - Apr 26, 2011
- Half of Indian kids under five underweight: NGO - Feb 15, 2012
- South Asia needs 1 mn new jobs per month: World Bank - Sep 23, 2011
- HIV drug now available as oral powder for children - Jan 29, 2012
- Malnutrition harming Madhya Pradesh kids: Unicef - Sep 06, 2011
- Human trials under way for new HIV vaccine - Jan 03, 2012
Tags: 10 million, 5 million, delegates, health issues, health ministers, health workforce, hiv aids, immunisation, intensification, iodine, malnourished children, micronutrient deficiencies, regional committee, resolutions, sea region, southeast asia, southeast asian countries, sub saharan africa, vaccine preventable diseases, world health organisation