UNifeed: UN / GLOBAL HEALTH FORUM

UN / GLOBAL HEALTH FORUM

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and WHO Director-General Margaret Chan comment on the H1N1 pandemic and maternal health, U.S. President Obama's policies on healthcare, and the Iran elections. UNTV

Duration:01:44Date:15 June 2009

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United Nations Television, HEALTH

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Full Script

STORY: UN / GLOBAL HEALTH FORUM
TRT:  1.44
SOURCE: UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 15 JUNE 2009, NEW YORK CITY

SHOTLIST:

FILE – UNTV – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior, United Nations Headquarters

15 JUNE 2009, NEW YORK CITY

2. Wide shot, opening session of Global Health Forum
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Margaret Chan, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO): 
“I firmly believe that this pandemic will reveal in a highly visible, measurable and tragic way exactly what it means in life and death terms when health needs and health systems have been neglected for decades in large parts of the world.”
4. Wide shot, Ban and Chan approaching microphone at media stakeout
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Ban Ki-Moon, United Nations Secretary-General:
“If I had to single out one area for a renewed and unrelenting focus, it is maternal health. It is the slowest-moving target indicator of the millennium development goals, but it is also the fastest way to build stronger health systems and a more secure world.”
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Margaret Chan, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO):
“Now that President Obama has attached a lot of importance to global health, it is good for the world. And his emphasis on supporting HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria and other MDGs,  as well as neglected tropical disease, he got his priorities right, because these are diseases that affect the poorest of the poor in the world.”
8. Close up, hand taking notes
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Ban Ki-Moon, United Nations Secretary-General:
“The position of me and the United Nations is that the genuine will of Iranian people should be fully respected. I’m closely following how this investigation into this election result will come out.”
10. Pan right, Ban leaving stakeout area

STORYLINE:

World Health Organization (WHO) chief Margaret Chan today (15 June) warned that the current H1N1 pandemic could cripple fragile health systems in poor countries.

Chan urged senior government officials to place “fairness” at the core of decisions to protect the most vulnerable against this and other worldwide crises, as she addressed a high-level forum on global health at UN headquarters.

The WHO chief said she was convinced the pandemic would “reveal in a highly visible, measurable and tragic way exactly what it means in life and death terms when health needs and health systems have been neglected for decades in large parts of the world”, in particular a “long-standing failure” to ensure basic healthcare during pregnancy and childbirth.

Noting that pregnancy and chronic diseases are risk factors for complications from H1N1, Chan said that 85 percent of the chronic disease burden and 99 percent of maternal deaths were already occurring in low and middle-income countries.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who also participated in the forum, told reporters outside the meeting that global health was a top priority for him because it was the “tie that binds all the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) together”, referring to the globally agreed anti-poverty targets with a 2015 deadline.

He too, singled out maternal health as the area in most urgent need of “renewed and unrelenting focus”.

According to the UN, more than half a million mothers and their newborns die every year from a lack of adequate care.

In response to a question about the new US administration’s approach to healthcare, Chan said that President Barack Obama’s decision to attach a lot of importance to global health was “good for the world”, and declared that by supporting the millennium development goals (MDGs) on HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria, and fighting neglected tropical diseases he had “got his priorities right”.

Asked to comment on the situation in Iran following Friday’s elections, Ban said that the “genuine will of the Iranian people should be fully respected". He added that he was closely following developments and would watch for the outcome of an investigation of complaints about the poll.

The Secretary-General hosted today’s one-day forum on “Advancing global health in the face of crisis” in order to elevate the global health debate and engage multi-sectoral representatives from around the world. Participants included ministers, heads of UN agencies, leading experts and representatives from civil society, the private sector, philanthropy and academia.

Last week, WHO raised its global pandemic alert level to a maximum six, which means an H1N1 flu pandemic is officially underway.

The virus, which was first detected in Mexico in April, has so far infected almost 30,000 people in 74 countries, according to the latest WHO figures. Around 150 of those have died. Today Britain reported its first death.

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