WHO Director-General addresses the UN Economic and Social Council
25 February 2014 -- As part of the debate on the post-2015 development agenda, Dr Margaret Chan drew attention to three alarming trends that will shape development models for the future. Social inequalities have reached the most extreme levels seen in half a century. The rise of noncommunicable diseases will increase these inequalities even further. In the absence of adequate regulatory capacity, the private sector has assumed an enlarged role, with little government control over the quality or costs of services being provided. (Source: WHO Director-General speeches)
Source: WHO Director-General speeches - February 25, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news
Health situation in Syria
26 February 2014 -- In her briefing to members of the United Nations General Assembly, WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan described the immense suffering of the Syrian people in the context of a once-excellent health system that has now collapsed. She provided the latest statistics on a long list of health concerns, including the first polio cases in Syria since 1999. As she noted, lack of access to people in need, wherever they reside, remains the most critical barrier to improving the health situation. (Source: WHO Director-General speeches)
Source: WHO Director-General speeches - February 25, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news
WHO Director-General celebrates polio-free India
12 February 2014 -- In her address at an event celebrating India’s triumph over polio, Dr Margaret Chan commended the country for showing the world that there is no such thing as impossible. She pointed out the many unique challenges that made sceptics believe that India would never be polio-free. As she noted, the doubters missed one decisive factor: the power of India’s determination to go from the world’s heaviest burden of polio cases to zero. (Source: WHO Director-General speeches)
Source: WHO Director-General speeches - February 11, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news
WHO Director-General addresses the Executive Board
20 January 2014 -- In her report to the Executive Board, Dr Margaret Chan stressed the need for WHO to be strategic and highly selective in the work it undertakes – an objective of several recent reforms. She noted the advantages of good performance in a limited number of high-impact areas, illustrated by some examples. She referred to several major challenges that will require strong leadership as the international health community transitions to the post-2015 era. (Source: WHO Director-General speeches)
Source: WHO Director-General speeches - January 20, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news
WHO Director-General assesses progress and challenges in women’s and children’s health
14 January 2014 -- Dr Margaret Chan noted the challenges of establishing an accountability framework for women’s and children’s health, which requires addressing long-standing weaknesses in health infrastructures and the absence in most countries of civil registration and vital statistics systems. Despite these problems, donors and countries are becoming increasingly committed to mutual accountability. She emphasized that credit for achievements must go to countries, as they are the owners of any efforts to improve the health of women and children. (Source: WHO Director-General speeches)
Source: WHO Director-General speeches - January 14, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news
WHO Director-General addresses G8 dementia summit
11 December 2013 -- In her opening remarks, Dr Margaret Chan welcomed the G8 summit on dementia, with its ground-breaking proposals to stimulate innovation and its strong sense of urgency to catch up with a runaway human tragedy. As she noted, the alarming trends, in numbers affected and the soaring costs, will only get worse in the absence of better tools for prevention, treatment, and care. As she noted, “We should have more faith in the power of scientific investigation.” (Source: WHO Director-General speeches)
Source: WHO Director-General speeches - December 11, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news
WHO Director-General addresses ministerial forum on universal health coverage
6 December 2013 -- In her remarks to a high-level ministerial forum, Dr Margaret Chan commended the Japanese Government and the World Bank for their support to countries that have made universal health coverage the goal of health reforms. As she noted, universal health coverage is not cheap, but it is affordable when the right policies are in place. Japan’s health system is a model of policies that provide good health at low cost with equity. (Source: WHO Director-General speeches)
Source: WHO Director-General speeches - December 6, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news
Opening remarks by Dr Margaret Chan at the second meeting of WHO’s financing dialogue
Honourable ministers, ambassadors, colleagues in public health,
partners in financing the work of WHO, our sister UN agencies,
ladies and gentlemen, (Source: WHO Director-General speeches)
Source: WHO Director-General speeches - November 25, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news
WHO Director-General addresses the Regional Committee for the Western Pacific
21 October 2013 -- Noting the Region’s shared and steady improvements in health, Dr Margaret Chan highlighted a number of recent achievements, including strikingly high coverage with measles and hepatitis B vaccine, reductions in AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis cases, and progress towards the elimination of lymphatic filariasis. At the same time, rapid economic growth has made the Region the epicenter for noncommunicable diseases, adding a host of new problems. (Source: WHO Director-General speeches)
Source: WHO Director-General speeches - October 21, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news
Opening remarks at Budapest Water Summit
9 October 2013 -- As the world thinks about the place of water and sanitation in the sustainable development agenda, certain weaknesses in the Millennium Development Goals need to be addressed. Progress is based on population averages and not on whether benefits reach the poor. The goals address access to water and sanitation in households only, and not in workplaces, schools, and health facilities. They monitor access to improved water sources, but not the microbiological or chemical quality of water. (Source: WHO Director-General speeches)
Source: WHO Director-General speeches - October 9, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news
WHO Director-General addresses Budapest Water Summit
9 October 2013 -- In her first major statements on water and sanitation, Dr Margaret Chan described the enormous burden of disease associated with inadequate access to water, sanitation, and hygiene. While much progress has been made, the target set for sanitation is the most off-track of all the Millennium Development Goals. Poverty cannot be alleviated as long as millions lack access to an improved water source and billions live in environments contaminated with human waste. (Source: WHO Director-General speeches)
Source: WHO Director-General speeches - October 9, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news
WHO Director-General launches mental health action plan
7 October 2013 -- Dr Margaret Chan described the new Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan as a landmark achievement in many ways, including its foundation in the principles of human rights, its comprehensive menu of policy options, and its call for fundamental changes in the way mental health services are delivered. By underscoring opportunities to reduce inefficiencies, the action plan encourages an expansion of services to meet increased needs at a time when so many are affected by joblessness, homelessness, and hopelessness. (Source: WHO Director-General speeches)
Source: WHO Director-General speeches - October 7, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news
WHO Director-General addresses US Department of Health and Human Services
27 September 2013 -- Is health too big to fail? This is the central question addressed in Dr Margaret Chan’s lecture to the US Department of Health and Human Services. She notes some outstanding recent health achievements, but concentrates on forces, in multiple sectors, that have made threats to health more numerous, the causes more ominous, and the burden more onerous. In a world of unprecedented social inequalities, what makes health too big to fail is its commitment to fairness, to a social contract that gives the world its moral compass. (Source: WHO Director-General speeches)
Source: WHO Director-General speeches - September 27, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news
WHO Director-General addresses an expert advisory group on antimicrobial resistance
19 September 2013 -- In her welcoming remarks to the Strategic and Technical Advisory Group on a global strategy for tackling antimicrobial resistance, Dr Margaret Chan warned that current trends may be moving the world towards a post-antibiotic era, where common infections will once again kill. She urged the group to help develop a worldwide, inclusive, far-reaching strategic plan that will help reverse these alarming trends. (Source: WHO Director-General speeches)
Source: WHO Director-General speeches - September 19, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news
Convocation Address to All India Institute of Medical Sciences
12 September 2013 -- In her address to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Dr Margaret Chan challenged graduates and honourees of this elite medical college to think about their training in the context of India’s needs. She gave examples, including the problem of severely malnourished children, the rise of noncommunicable diseases, and the costs of health care that drive households into poverty. (Source: WHO Director-General speeches)
Source: WHO Director-General speeches - September 12, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news
