NAM Health Ministers for Ending Israel Health Violations in Occupied Golan
GENEVA (ST) _The 6th Ministerial Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement ‘s Health Ministers was held at the UN headquarters in Geneva, on the sidelines of the 66th session of the World Health Assembly, with the participation of the Syrian delegation .
The Ministers discussed the Millennium Development Goals beyond 2015 and its relation to limit the spread of non-communicable diseases caused by lifestyle changes and ways to make more efforts on the international level to withstand the challenges related to the spread of communicable diseases and disease outbreaks.
The participants in the meeting issued a comprehensive 29- item declaration dealing with pressing health issues in the Member States, in particular ,communicable ,non-communicable and common diseases
The Declaration called for cooperation to face these diseases and called for Member States and relevant international organizations to put an end to health related violations perpetrated by Israel in the occupied Syrian Golan to ensure access to health services for Syrian citizens and in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Head of the Syrian delegation, Minister of Health, Dr. Saad Nayef said that health indicators in Syria reached during the past few years distinct levels, that Syria was at the forefront of countries of WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Region to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, especially with regard to under five children vaccine.
The minister said that in 2010 the Ministry of Health launched the national strategy for health promotion and prevention of non-communicable diseases with the participation of 17 ministries and a number of NGOs and the World Health Organization andthat Syria was the first country in WHO ‘s Eastern Mediterranean Region to adopt this strategy, which aims to integrate hygiene promotion concepts in various walks of life for individuals of different age groups.
He continued that under the current crisis, health sector in Syria is exposed to significant challenges, including continuous targeting of health infrastructures including hospitals , health centers, ambulances and medical workforce , noting the unjust economic sanctions, which obstructed the ministry ‘s efforts to meet needs of generic drugs, vaccines and medical equipment, spare parts and other medical supplies.
He indicated that the national health sector is exposed to an unprecedented misleading media campaigns to distort and falsify facts in order to achieve political goals, despite the humanitarian nature of this sector, stressing that Syria is challenging these pressures by the strength of its people , coherence of its health institutions and workers, and the help of friends in the world.
On May 20-24 , the World Health Assembly began its session with the participation of 194 countries in which topics, on reforming WHO , the prevention of non-communicable diseases and monitor the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals related to health and propose recommendations to improve the health of women and children.
T. Fateh