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Honourable
Minister Sallam,
Honourable
Ministers,
Dr Gezairy,
Distinguished
guests and colleagues,
What a great pleasure it is to join in the events
that mark a new phase in the life of the WHO Eastern Mediterranean
Region.
My colleagues here today, the Regional Directors
from the Americas, from Africa, from Europe, from South-East Asia and
from the Western Pacific, and the Director of the International Agency
for Research on Cancer, join me in saying how proud we are to
participate in this landmark in the history of the WHO family.
Minister Sallam, let me thank you and the host
Government on behalf of all of us for the wonderful support, both in
thought and in deed, that has been given to the fulfilment of this
project.
I also want to express our very deep thanks to the
city of Alexandria for looking after us so well over the past half
century, and to the city of Cairo for its warm welcome.
Ministers from the Region, let me thank you, your
countries and your citizens, for the marvelous donations, and all for
the sustained support for the idea, reflected in these new premises,
that countries can work together to make life better for everyone.
Dr Gezairy, let me say how much we are all indebted
to you for the drive and determination that has seen this project
through from start to finish. Your personal qualities, your high
technical and diplomatic abilities are well known to all of us in this
hall. My colleagues and I join together today to tell you how much we
appreciate what you have done for the Region, and your role as part of
the global leadership team of WHO.
And to the WHO staff of the Region, many of whom
have worked so hard to make this move from one historic city to
another go so well, we want to bring you the very best wishes of all
of your colleagues worldwide.
Ministers and colleagues,
I have been impressed on each of my visits to this
Region with the extent to which the countries of EMRO have made full
use of their regional structure.
At the Regional Committees and, a year ago, at the
Council of Arab Health Ministers, I heard of the ways in which global
challenges and concepts were being thought through to find regional
solutions. There are fundamental values at the heart of this process
that are shared throughout the Region: equity, and respect for human
dignity and integrity.
During my visits earlier this month to Pakistan and
to the Islamic Republic of Iran, I saw the practical expression of the
close support that our country offices in the Region get from the
office here in Cairo. There is a solid infrastructure. Some of it,
such as the information systems developed here in EMRO for keeping
track of programme activities, we are considering expanding to all our
offices worldwide.
There are areas where EMRO has shown the lead in a
quiet and effective way. One such is the basic development needs
initiative. This is a very special local development tool. At village
or community level there has been patient work to integrate and
prioritize all development needs as thought through by the community
itself. Health, we know, plays a critical role in this, but none of
the other requirements are forgotten, be they education, women’s
development, food, shelter, or a means of livelihood. It is the
practical example of the comprehensive approach to development that we
are talking about throughout the United Nations system.
This new office will also face many health
challenges in the years to come. The good and bad features of
globalization will become clearer and will need to be addressed. We do
not for example yet know all of the effects on health systems. The
role of government to provide good stewardship for national health
systems will however remain critical, as will WHO’s role in helping
to build a stronger evidence base and advising on best practice.
No doubt also, there will be continuing work to be
done to address the health effects of emergencies, both natural
disasters and conflicts between people. I remember that my last visit
to Cairo coincided with the start of the upsurge of violence in Israel
and the Palestinian territories. We need to play our role to the full
in supporting those affected by this terrible turn of events.
Throughout the Region, we will need to sustain WHO’s ability to
react quickly and effectively in crisis and play an effective
coordination role.
There is much work still to be done on helping
people to live their lives in ways that protect and promote their
health. This is still a relatively young Region in terms of the
population profile, and we do need to put a special focus on the
young. I have been greatly encouraged by the approach of the Region to
tobacco control for example: and this drive must be kept up.
And of course in this world of ever increasing
movement of peoples, no part of the Region is free from the threat of
the major communicable diseases until all of the Region is free. In
many cases this is true globally as well.
We need to overcome the final hurdles for polio
elimination in the Region and work hard to maintain rates of
immunization against other diseases. We need to keep a critical watch
on the control and treatment of tuberculosis and malaria. And we need
to maintain vigilance against HIV/AIDS. I hope that the
discussions currently under way in political groupings around the
world on scaling up and intensifying health sector action to help the
poorest countries and communities will bring significant support to
these goals.
Ministers and colleagues,
This is an office that I hope will be used to the
full by all of the countries of the Region. It will perhaps be too
much to hope that the building will last quite as long as some very
famous larger structures quite near by to this city. But it will
surely give a solid foundation for reaching many of our goals and
aspirations over the coming decades.
Once again my colleagues and I thank and
congratulate all of those involved in the completion of this beautiful
new office building and all that it represents for our work to improve
the health of the population of the Region and the world.
Thank you. |
