 |
WHO's Regional Health Secretaries Meet in Myanmar
The Sixth Meeting of Health Secretaries of the Countries of the World Health Organization (WHO) Southeast Asian Region began Monday in Yangon.
The three-day meeting will serve as a forum for exchanging views and experiences with respect to health and health-related matters in countries of the region, said Tuesday's official newspaper The New Light of Myanmar.
Speaking at the opening of the meeting, Myanmar Health Minister Major-General Ket Sein urged countries in the region to act accordingly to meet the changing conditions and challenges in political, economic and social sectors all over the world over the past few years.
He said that the WHO is always trying to improve and intensify its efforts in fulfilling the health development needs of member countries, stressing that promotion of health and social development is vital for enhancing the quality of life.
He told the meeting that Myanmar, in accordance with its social objective of uplifting the health standards of the entire people, has accorded priority in allocation of government budget to the health sector, adding that the country's ministry of health is one of the largest recipients of budgetary funds.
He also disclosed that aimed at increasing equity, efficiency and quality of health services, the Myanmar Health Ministry has carried out health sector reform which encompasses policy, organization, institutional development, human resources, health financing and the private sector.
He described the meeting as a very useful one, saying that such meetings have not only been able to address regional health problems but also to formulate sound plans of actions and strategies to tackle the issues of common concern.
He was convinced that inter-country cooperation can be further strengthened to effectively reduce the burden of ill health in the countries of the region.
In This Section
|