WHO urges attention to UN flash appeal for Philippines, sends emergency supplies
MANILA, 22 December 2011 – The World Health Organization (WHO) urges the international community to respond affirmatively to the United Nations' flash appeal for USD 28.6 million of emergency relief for the flood-ravaged southern Philippines.
The tropical storm that struck the area on 16-18 December 2011 left devastation in its wake, mostly in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan cities on northern Mindanao island. More than 641 000 people have been affected by the ensuing floods, of whom more than 1000 have died, approximately 44 000 are living in evacuation centres and approximately 266 000 are living with relatives or in makeshift shelters.
"The United Nations team and the Government of the Philippines have worked hard to prepare an authoritative assessment of priority needs," says Dr Shin Young-soo, WHO's Regional Director for the Western Pacific. "We appeal to the Member States and our international partners to help the people of the southern Philippines in their hour of suffering and deprivation."
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World AIDS Day message of Dr Shin Young-soo, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific
MANILA, 1 December 2011 – On the occasion of the 24th World AIDS Day, Dr Shin Young-soo, the World Health Organization's Regional Director for the Western Pacific, says that "together we can and must work towards the vision of 'Getting to zero – zero new HIV infections, zero AIDS-related deaths and zero discrimination'".
Click here to view his video statement.
Click here to read the transcript.
Did you know ...
Pneumonia: a child killer
 Pneumonia kills 1.4 million children under the age of five every year – more than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. This disease can be treated with antibiotics, but only about 30% of children with pneumonia receive the antibiotics they need.
Pneumonia can be prevented by immunization, adequate nutrition and by addressing environmental factors.
Fact file
| | | Good news on the malaria front
 Nine of the 10 principal malaria-endemic countries in the Western Pacific Region are experiencing downward trends in the disease, but in some high-burden countries, notably Papua New Guinea, the rate of decline remains slow, WHO's World Malaria Report 2011 reveals.
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Fiji launches Western Pacific Region's first health system profile
SUVA, Fiji, 29 November 2011 – Policy-makers can now gain easy access to information about Fiji's health system with the launch today of its Health in Transition (HiT) publication, a comprehensive review of the country's health profile.
Fiji's HiT, the first country profile published by the Asia Pacific Observatory of Health Systems and Policies, provides key information, such as on health financing, physical and human resources, health service delivery mechanisms and principle directions in health sector reform, of particular importance to the country's decision-makers.
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