TBD
Better cooperation in Asia-Pacific for better health
The United Nations is asking countries in the Asia-Pacific region to increase their efforts to prevent highly infectious diseases from crossing borders.
women with masks
Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Director of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific told a conference on health systems taking place in Singapore that no matter how strong and effective the health system of one country may be, there is no guarantee that the country would be protected from pandemics such as SARS and avian influenza if the country's neighbours are exposed.
Ms. Heyzer urged nations to increase investment in public health infrastructures and to broaden their provision of medical supplies, including vaccines.
It is also vital, she said, to attend to problems that make people sick and in need of medical care in the first place.
As part of foreign policy, Ms. Heyzer said, countries which have stronger health systems could work closely with countries with weaker systems to ensure that levels of investment in health increase, the number and quality of health workers improve and that the overall capacity of health systems to deal with infectious diseases is at the same level," the official said.
Gerry Adams, United Nations
Duration: 1'14"
