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2
ministries of health in the Eastern Mediterranean Region signed the Qatar Declaration: Health and Well-being through Health Systems based on Primary Health Care. This declaration included a commitment to “universal access to quality and safe health services” and promoting healthy lifestyles as part of the strategy to address chronic diseases. In these statements the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region have expressed their support for addressing the major themes of this conference: social determinants of health, chronic disease, quality health care, and the effect of climate change on public health.
Ministries of health are responsible for ensuring the provision of health care in their respective countries. The WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean supports the ministries of health in the 22 countries of the Region. This support is designed to strengthen health systems so that they can deliver equitable and quality services which will result in improved health outcomes for all segments of the population. The WHO mandate is to support its Member States in their efforts to provide the best available health care, available to all without distinction of gender, age, race, ethnicity, religion, social status, disability or area of residence.
To provide support for health in the countries of our Region is a great challenge, especially in these times of rapid social and political change. WHO needs to respond to the newly expressed needs of the people. This adds complexity to the existing situation, as the countries of the Region are diverse in terms of health status, health needs and the financial and human resources available to address them.
A growing number of countries in the Eastern Mediterranean Region are in a state of complex emergency. They may not have a well functioning health system or a government structure to deliver essential services to protect the health and well-being of their population, such as safe water and sanitation. In these difficult settings, living conditions and the prevailing fear and insecurity contribute to the poorest health outcomes in the Region.
The Regional Office is also addressing the social determinants of health. These are described by the chair of the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health as
“avoidable health inequalities [which] arise because of the circumstances in which people grow, live, work, and age, and the systems put in place to deal with illness”. As the majority of these determinants originate outside the health system, intersectoral action is essential.
Thus, at the global, regional and country level, WHO is promoting collaboration with line ministries beyond ministries of health, with other government agencies, and with the private
3
and not-for-profit health sector, civil society and academia. This activity is supported by evidence that the different sectors of government can gain more by working together than each can achieve by working separately.
The WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health included civil society representatives and organizations, to provide a voice for ordinary people and grassroots organizations to express their needs. At the local level, the Eastern Mediterranean Region of WHO has a long history of support for community-based initiatives as a strategy to improve the health and well-being of communities through actions to address social determinants of health and health disparities. Building on these earlier regional experiences, the regional programme on community-based initiatives, first established in 1988, is now recognized as a major tool to improve social and health conditions by address social determinants of health and health inequities at the local level. It targets poor, vulnerable and underprivileged communities, supporting community empowerment, organization and ownership and training and assisting in mobilizing resources and in developing partnerships with civil society, international organizations and academic institutions.
In concluding, I would like to take this opportunity to express my best wishes for a successful meeting and for a pleasant stay in Aleppo.
Thank you.
