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50 days on, WHO continues to serve communities affected by PNG quake

Dr Luo Dapeng, WHO Representative in Papua New Guinea, congratulates the children who received their vaccines for the day after a joint NDOH/PHA/WHO mobile immunization clinic in a village affected by the February earthquake in the Southern Highlands Province

PORT MORESBY, 16 April 2018 – Fifty days after a 7.5 magnitude earthquake hit Papua New Guinea (PNG), limited delivery of essential health services has resumed in earthquake-affected provinces. However, thousands remain vulnerable to health threats as they continue to live in crowded temporary settlements with inadequate access to clean water and medical services. More than 500 000 were affected by the earthquake that struck on 26 February. At least 25 000 people have been displaced, while many communities continue to face compromised water and food supplies, significantly increasing threats of disease outbreaks.

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• World Health Day
• World TB Day
• Pacific leadership in NCDs

Care out of reach for too many; WHO calls for action to achieve health for all

MANILA, 6 April 2018 - Up to half the population in some countries in Asia and the Pacific are missing out on essential health services. This is a key finding of a series of country profiles released by the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for the Western Pacific on the eve of World Health Day for which this year’s theme is universal health coverage.

• Read the media release
• More on Universal Health Coverage

TB down in past decade; universal health coverage key to faster progress

WHO/Y. Shimizu

Tuberculosis screening activities at Yos Vinei pagoda in Pteas village, Cambodia.

MANILA, 23 March 2018 - New estimates show a 14% reduction in the incidence of tuberculosis (TB) in the World Health Organization (WHO) Western Pacific Region over the past decade, but with 1.8 million people newly infected in the Region each year, more needs to be done. On the eve of World Tuberculosis Day, WHO calls on governments to provide all citizens access to TB testing and treatment as part of universal health coverage.

• Read the media release

Pacific leadership in new WHO global commission on noncommunicable diseases

WHO/Y. Setoya

Tongan community health workers completing the NCD health surveillance (STEPS) survey.

SUVA, Fiji, 13 March 2018 - Globally communities are struggling to cope with the growing burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancers. In another step forward in combatting this epidemic, WHO has established an Independent Global High-level Commission on Noncommunicable Diseases, where the Tongan Minister of Health and Public Enterprises, Dr Saia Ma’u Piukala, has been appointed as one of the commissioners who will help raise awareness of the issues and experiences of NCDs in the Pacific.

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Countries in focus

• WHO calls for action to achieve health for all in Viet Nam
  April 2018
  Vietnam meets 73% of the population health needs with regards to essential health services, which is regarded as relatively high compared to other countries in the Western Pacific Region. However, Vietnamese people also face relatively high risk of financial hardship due to payments for health.
• Lao PDR: Polio Vaccination Campaign at subnational level targets 460,000 children under 5
  March 2018
  The National Immunization Program (NIP) under the leadership of the Ministry of Health (MoH), with the support of UNICEF and WHO, will launch a 12-day subnational polio vaccination campaign on 26 March.
• Fostering healthy tourism in the Pacific
  March 2018
  Tourism and health sector representatives from seven of the Pacific’s most-visited islands have initiated efforts to promote tobacco-free tourism that protects ecosystems as well as the health and cultures of Pacific islanders.
• Cambodia addresses increase of reported Malaria cases
  March 2018
  The National Center for Parasitology, Entomology and Malaria Control (CNM) has confirmed an increase of malaria cases which started mid 2017, at the National Malaria Conference.
• Mongolia: World Health Organization issues recommendations to tackle health impacts of air pollution
  February 2018
  The World Health Organization (WHO) today released a set of long-, medium- and short-term recommendations for the Government of Mongolia to tackle air pollution. Air pollution causes more than 4000 deaths every year in this Central Asian lower-middle income country with a population of 3 million.