Nepal attended the 75th session of the Regional Committee for WHO South-East Asia which concluded in Paro, Bhutan on Friday. Member countries attended the session and Nepal committed to resilient health systems.
In the meeting, it was promised to accelerate multi-sectoral actions to address priority health issues and re-energize comprehensive primary health services for more inclusive, equitable and resilient against present and future emergencies.
Addressing the event, Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia said, “Our focus must be on vulnerable populations, and we must identify them and see how best we can address their needs. We cannot leave anyone behind as we seek to drive rapid and sustained progress towards universal health coverage, health security and health for all.”
The meeting, which was organized in person for the first time after COVID-19 pandemic, addressed mental health issues through primary care and community engagement.
The Regional Committee stressed the need to revitalise regional knowledge and experience sharing the mechanisms aligned with the national, regional and global goals for strengthening comprehensive people-centered primary health services and health systems to respond to public health priorities, such as mental health, non-communicable diseases, emergencies and pandemics, including COVID-19 and, more recently, monkeypox.
Progress against efforts to end preventable maternal, newborn and child mortality in the region in line with the Sustainable Development Goals and global strategy on women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health, challenges in polio eradication, and elimination of measles and rubella by 2023, was also reviewed by the regional committee.
