By Asma’u Ahmad
The World Health Organisation (WHO) regional committee for the Western Pacific region has opened its annual meeting to discuss progress on public heath priorities in the region.
The Manila-based WHO regional committee said in a statement that aside from dengue, malaria, HIV, and sexually transmitted diseases, the five-day meeting would also tackle environmental health.
It said the meeting would also include, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Asia Pacific Strategy for Emerging Diseases and Public Health Emergencies.
The committee said that the meeting hopes to formulate policies to support Western Pacific countries combat the diseases in a bid to sustain the WHO goals.
The statement said that the progress report on HIV and sexually transmitted infections, expanded programme on immunisation, disability prevention and rehabilitation including blindness would also be discussed.
The meeting this week is the 67th session of the regional committee, WHO’s governing body for the Western Pacific region.
The committee consists of representatives from the region’s member states and associate members who meet annually.
