Second Report from the 63rd WHO South East Asia Regional Meeting

Second Report from Dawn Lynn Bowness, President of SI Bangkok, Thailand.

The recent South East Asian meeting of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Thailand found that although there has been a great deal of progress towards achieving the MDGs, progress in MDG 5, maternal health, has been too slow.

Issues affecting the disappointing progress made under MDG 5 include:

• Inadequate financial allocation at national and sub national levels;
• The health budget does not efficiently target preventative measures;
• Social and cultural barriers which prevent access to maternal and neonatal care persist which deprives women and girls of essential health care;
• Poor standards of care;
• A shortage of female health workers.

At the end of the meeting, many draft resolutions were made. The WHO called for Governments in the region to prioritise health and make this an explicit within policy.

Dawn's full report can be read at www.soroptimistinternational.org. Just log into the members section. Her report also covers the other issues discussed at the meeting, including the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases, the use of eco-chemicals and climate change.

Many thanks to Dawn for attending this meeting!