Economic Interests Harming Global Health: WHO Chief

Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), during the WHO Executive Board's special session on the Ebola emergency. Credit: UN Photo/Violaine Martin.By Lyndal RowlandsUNITED NATIONS, May 24 2016 (IPS)Putting economic interests over public health is leading the world towards three slow-motion health disasters, Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization’s warned the world’s health ministers on Monday.Changes in the world’s climate, the failure of more and more antibiotic drugs and the increase in so-called lifestyle diseases caused by poor diet and exercise, are all growing health disasters related to the prioritisation of the economy over public health.“These are not natural disasters. They are man-made disasters created by policies that place economic interests above concerns about the well-being of human lives and the planet that sustains them,” she said.Chan’s warnings were part of her speech at the opening of the 69th World Health Assembly in Geneva. Some 3500 delegates from the WHO’s 194 member states will participate in meetings at the assembly about some of the world’s most pressing health issues from May 23 to 27.During her speech Chan also acknowledged the world’s many recent public health successes, however overall she argued that advances in health services and systems could not keep up with the global changes which mean health threats are increasingly traversing borders. “We ar...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: Global & Universal Authors: Tags: Aid Climate Change Development & Aid Energy Environment Featured Food & Agriculture Global Governance Headlines Health Humanitarian Emergencies Inequity IPS UN: Inside the Glasshouse Population Poverty & SDGs TerraViva United Source Type: news