WHO chief sees political unrest threatening world health
Pastor Dale Morgan
WHO chief sees political unrest threatening world health*
Reuters
GENEVA - Post-election violence in Kenya and unrest in Gaza showed how
political turmoil can threaten public health, the head of the World
Health Organisation said on Monday.
Margaret Chan, in an address to the United Nations agency's executive
board, said she was concerned that upheaval in Kenya after a disputed
election would cause setbacks in the fight against HIV/AIDS, malaria,
tuberculosis, and other diseases that required monitoring and action.
In Gaza, Israeli blockades and road closures were taking a heavy toll on
sufferers of cancer, heart disease, diabetes and those needing emergency
care in the occupied Palestinian territory, the WHO Director-General said.
"We are seeing right now some stark evidence of the threat arising from
instability and civil unrest," Chan told the preparatory meeting for the
WHO's World Health Assembly in May.
The 34-member board will this week consider advances in international
efforts to combat pandemic influenza, eradicate polio and guinea worm
disease, and prepare for health risks associated with climate change.
It will also assess campaigns aimed at combating female genital
mutilation, improving global immunisation coverage, and reinforcing
health care systems in poorer countries.
Though tuberculosis prevalence appears to have stabilised globally, the
spread of drug-resistant strains in Eastern Europe, parts of Central
Asia, and China was a serious concern, Chan said.
Extremely drug-resistant varieties of tuberculosis, which are virtually
immune to all treatments, represented another serious threat, she said.
"Its emergence reminds us to be prepared for setbacks arising from the
constantly changing microbial world," she said.
Although Chan repeated her view that H5N1 bird flu remains a threat, she
spoke only briefly about the virus which previously dominated the WHO
chief's public statements.
"This season has again given us some stark reminders that the threat of
an influenza pandemic has by no means diminished," she told the meeting.
Both Pakistan and Myanmar reported their first human infections with
H5N1 bird flu late in 2007. The virus is known to have infected 343
people since 2003, killing 212. Most cases have been in Vietnam and
Indonesia.
On the issue of climate change, Chan cited findings that Africa could be
severely affected by shifting patterns of droughts, floods, storms and
heat waves as early as 2020.
"This is just a dozen years away," she told the meeting, stressing that
international health experts needed to address the expected impacts of
"droughts, floods, storms, heat-waves, air pollution, malnutrition,
displaced populations, and water-borne and vector-borne disease."
(For more information on humanitarian crises and issues visit
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