WHO gearing to play proactive role in emergencies like Cyclone

New York, July 17 (PTI) The World Health Organisation is
seeking to expand the role it plays in responding to
emergencies like that of Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar.
"WHO has increased its capacity in the last three years
very significantly and wants to be a credible, predictable and
reliable partner in the emergency field," WHO Assistant
Director-General for Health Action in Crises, Eric Laroche,
told reporters Wednesday.
He noted that the agency's Director-General Margaret Chan
is dedicated to boosting WHO's capacity to enable its
emergency response ability.
Laroche pointed to the example of Myanmar, which was
struck by the deadly Cyclone Nargis in early May, where the
U.N. health agency led a cluster of some 40 different agencies
which have shared their data, assessments and planning.
"So this is a completely different way of doing
business," he said.
"It's going to be a lengthy process," Laroche agreed,
given that institutional and cultural change takes time.
Currently, the agency leads the health cluster
– comprising dozens of partners – which aims to understand the
different agendas and mandates of organisations working on the
ground.
Referring to climate change, Laroche said that such
possibilities as increased flooding and less water are
well-known, but that many are not as familiar with the medical
dimension of global warming, including the advent of new
viruses and insect vectors.
To address such health issues, he said it was imperative
to boost preparedness and to increase response and recovery
capacity in countries at both the national and local levels.