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WHO supports donations and medical supplies for Lebanese civilians
The current conflict in Lebanon has resulted in hundreds of Lebanese civilians losing their lives, thousands more injured and approximately 1 million people displaced from their homes. The number of displaced people accounts for nearly a quarter of the entire country’s population of almost 4 million. WHO along with other relief agencies have been struggling to get supplies through to the affected population. Perhaps most urgent among the list of humanitarian health needs is the need for medicines and medical supplies. Lebanon is a country where noncommunicable diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and hypertension are common. It is vital that treatment for these conditions and many others is made available to refugees and everyone else affected by the conflict.
However, WHO stresses that the donations of medicines must comply with the established guidelines. The main principles of these guidelines are as follows:
• Donations should be of maximum benefit to the recipient
• Respect for the wishes and authority of the recipient should be ensured
• There should be no double standards in quality
• An effective level of communication between the donor and the recipient should be maintained
Adherence to these guidelines, along with a standardized supply, will facilitate the distribution and use of these medicines and prevent the wasting of resources. WHO is urging all donors to access the following link for a more detailed explanation of the guidelines. The link also includes a comprehensive list of the medicines most needed by the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.
WHO AND UNICEF tackle problem of lack of essential medicines for children
The first international Expert Consultation on Paediatric Essential Medicines, jointly held by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nation’s Children’s Fund (UNICEF), has delivered a plan to boost access to essential medicines for children.
"Children are often hailed as the hope and future of humanity, but they don't benefit enough from pharmaceutical research and technology," said Dr Howard Zucker, Assistant-Director General at WHO. "Too often, the right medicines for children, in the right dosages and formulations are missing from the spectrum of available treatment options. WHO and UNICEF will work quickly with partners to change this."
Ten million children die every year, many of them from diarrhoea, HIV/AIDS, malaria, respiratory tract infection or pneumonia. Effective interventions − classified on WHO's list of essential medicines − exist for these illnesses but there's a lack of knowledge of how best to use these medicines in children, and a lack of paediatric formulations of them.
During two days of intensive discussion held 9-10 August at WHO's headquarters in Geneva, a mix of more than 20 developed and developing countries, non-governmental organizations including Médecins Sans Frontières, regulatory agencies, UNICEF and WHO staff prioritized a long-needed approach to overall paediatric care.
A top priority resulting from the meeting is to dramatically expand access to much needed child-focused formulations such as fixed dose combinations (several pills in one), crucial for children's correct use of medicines and treatment adherence.
The plan also calls for the improvement of medicines and prescribing guidelines addressing the entire range of infant and child care needs. Priorities include respiratory infections, neonatal care, palliative care for end stage AIDS, for HIV/TB co-infection and for other opportunistic infections, and improved electronic access to the latest WHO drug information.
The WHO Expert Consultation warned that without a model of best practice guidelines and paediatric formulations, and a buy-in at national levels right down to local care centres, then children − who in many countries make up half of the population − will continue to be considered as therapeutic orphans.
"For example, it is worrying to see so very few medicines suitable for children in resource-poor settings where there is enormous need. For these children, we must address cost issues and ensure the right medicine formulations exist", said Dr Hans Hogerzeil, WHO's Director for Medicines Policy and Standards. "The expert consultation was unanimous in its support for urgent, specific actions, which will significantly improve the chances for children to access the right medicines."
According to Hanne Bak Pedersen, Senior Adviser Pharmaceutical Policy, UNICEF Supply Division, "UNICEF is concerned that children's access to medicines is very low in many resource limited settings. Furthermore, there is a lack of availability of several paediatric formulations. Based on the work of this new project and WHO clinical recommendations, UNICEF Supply Division will strengthen and expand the dialogue with industry on paediatric formulations for HIV/AIDS to promote the development of the missing medicines for children."
High priority will be placed on ensuring a holistic approach to child care and treatment, including addressing quality of life issues such as producing painless remedies over injections, better tasting medications and investigating new mini tablet presentations.
Emphasis will also be placed on considering the climate zone requirements linked to distribution and use whenever new product formulations are made. For example, chewable or soluble powders are preferred over syrups as they do not require refrigeration and are less bulky to transport.
The plan will immediately be sent to countries for feedback on how best to implement the recommendations at the local level. In addition, WHO will consider several children's medicines for inclusion in the WHO Essential Medicines List in March 2007.
Avian influenza, polio eradication, emergencies and tuberculosis top the agenda
The Fifty-third Session of the Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean is scheduled to convene in Isfahan, Islamic Republic of Iran, during the period from Saturday, 9 to Tuesday, 12 September 2006. The meeting is being hosted in Isfahan at the kind invitation of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The Regional Committee is the WHO governing body at the regional level. It comprises, as members, all Ministers of Health in Member States or their alternates, who will meet to set policies and approve programmes and budgets in the Region. They will be discussing major health-related issues that have arisen in the Region during the year since the closing of the last session of the Regional Committee and following up the implementation of the recommendations made to the Director-General, Regional Director and Member States.
The inaugural session of the Regional Committee will take place in the Abbasi Hotel, Isfahan, on 9 September 2006 at 9:00 a.m., under the patronage of H.E. Dr Parvis Davoodi, Vice-President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, who will be attending the ceremony.
Emergency preparedness and response will top the agenda this year, in light of the disasters, wars and conflicts which many countries of the Region have recently experienced. These include the Pakistan earthquake, Darfur crisis and the recent war on Lebanon. A progress report on the subject reviews what has been implemented with regard to enhancing country preparedness for emergencies, an issue that was the subject of a resolution of the 52nd Session of the Regional Committee.
There are four diseases that have been globally targeted for elimination by Member States in collaboration with WHO: tuberculosis, measles, leprosy and neonatal tetanus. Four progress reports will follow up the latest steps taken to eliminate these diseases and the obstacles being faced.
Control and prevention of HIV/AIDS, tobacco control, poliomyelitis eradication and strengthening efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals are main challenges facing health officials in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. Some progress has been achieved in developing an integrated framework for action to tackle some of these issues, such as tobacco control. More countries have ratified the WHO Framework Convention for Tobacco Control; however, activation of the Convention is still in the preliminary stages. Significant progress has been made in polio eradication in the Region, with Egypt declared polio-free after a long battle with the deeply-rooted virus. Pakistan and Afghanistan are still working towards achieving this goal, while other countries that were previously declared polio-free, such as Somalia and Sudan, are fighting to stop outbreaks due to viruses transmitted from neighbouring countries.
Activities initiated under the “3 by 5” initiative to provide treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS are continuing, with universal access to prevention, care and treatment as the new goal. Efforts towards improving maternal and child health are making progress and need further support within the framework of the Millennium Development Goals. More detailed information about these health issues will be reviewed by the Regional Committee in its meeting in Isfahan.
The achievement of health for all and moving forward with primary health care are two long-term goals of WHO that have been renewed in past sessions of the Regional Committee. To what extent have Member States succeeded in moving forward towards achieving these goals? The answer is included in another progress report during the upcoming Regional Committee session.
Pandemic influenza preparedness will figure high on the agenda of the 53rd Session of the Regional Committee, as well as the public health problems of alcohol consumption in the Region and the regional strategy for knowledge management to support public health. The Regional Committee will also review the Iranian experience in integrating medical education and health services.
The details and features of activities implemented by the Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean during the past year will be the subject of thorough discussion and evaluation by the Regional Committee. Dr Hussein A. Gezairy, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, will review the annual report for 2005.
On the sidelines of the Regional Committee meeting, a book fair will be held offering recent WHO publications, and will include the launching of the Arabic version of the WHO report Preventing chronic diseases: a vital investment. The book fair will also showcase the latest WHO media productions in the field of health awareness. This includes audiovisual materials, posters and publications produced by the Regional Office on different health issues.
