Equal Opportunities to «Health For All», Pascoal MOCUMBI’s Vision for WHO

Guiding Principles

Advocacy for Health

Today, Health is one of the most important issues on the global development Agenda. It has become an issue for Heads of State and Finance Ministers, for multilateral financing and development agencies and global organizations of all kinds —NGOs, universities, corporations and foundations, thanks, in large part, to WHO’s leadership and advocacy. WHO has gathered the evidence and communicated the message that the Health of a nation’s people is critical to its economic and social development. WHO has also furthered the understanding of opinion leaders outside the Health Sector that diseases know no boundaries and that the Health of any single nation can be affected by a health problem that arises in any other. The image of WHO should continue to be promoted and its visibility should be enhanced so that it can better serve as an advocate for World Health. We must, however, assure that our image is built on a strong foundation of expertise and capability.

Yet the global disease burden remains high, with millions continuing to die from treatable and/or preventable diseases, because of poverty and weak Health Systems. Ill health is also a major contributor to poverty. The vicious cycle of poverty and ill health continues to deprive people of their dignity and subjects them to unnecessary pain and suffering. To break this vicious cycle, the global community must intervene to achieve broad and significant improvements in World Health and sustainable economic development. As part of this effort, we at WHO, must deepen our awareness of the links between poverty and ill health and translate this awareness into action so that we can achieve our long-stated goal of Health for All. This is the main focus of my vision and will be one of my top priorities as WHO’s DG.

Investment and Partnerships

WHO was created to be a source of global Health expertise and leadership within the UN System. As such, WHO assists and provide expert advise to member countries and other health related organizations or whose actions have Health consequences. To play this role effectively, WHO must, in every initiative, seek and nurture alliances and mobilize partners for sustained action for health.

We must continue to set standards and define performance objectives, so that we can measure our progress and hold ourselves and our partners accountable in our quest to reduce prevailing inequalities in Health outcomes. In this respect, I will emphasize the importance of effectively investing in Health and of adequately financing Health Systems. I will also strongly promote optimal use of available resources for Health. I believe that this is the way forward, if the Millennium Development Goals, the G8 Summit Goals, other high level fora and the Goals of the Johannesburg Summit Action Plan for the improvement of world Health are to be achieved.

Investments in Health are crucial for socio economic development. We now need to act on this knowledge. Governments and financing institutions should begin to demonstrate their commitment by changing their approach to economic and development policy at country level. The health of people should also be at the center of the world trade debates.

WHO has a long experience of successful cooperation with different institutions, NGOs, particularly, at HQ level. This partnership should be reinforced and extended to other levels of the Organization, especially, to the country level as a way to empower communities in the promotion of their own Health.

Commitment to Countries

As act on Health at the global level, our effectiveness will also depend on the degree to which WHO is seen as an organization with a technical authority on Health issues that concern all countries of the world, and one that can, when called upon, mobilize broad based action to support country efforts to address their own health priorities. I am convinced that WHO work at the country level is a critical element to enhance the effectiveness and visibility needed to carry out its global mission. I shall therefore endeavor, in a participatory and democratic process, to strengthen WHO Country Representations, particularly in those countries with greatest need of technical support.

A Rights Perspective

While health is critical to the development of nations and societies, it is also critical to an individual’s ability to participate in and contribute to society. Women are critical members of any society and, in too many instances, their resources and expertise are lost because of a failure to give them equal access to society’s resources or include them equally in the decision making process. This situation must change and, to that effect, I am committed to ensuring that WHO will contribute to eliminate gender based disparities.

The international community has long accepted the idea that governments carry the ultimate responsibility to ensure the conditions in which their people can achieve their full potential for Health. A right to equal opportunities for health has also been articulated in international instruments subscribed by many countries. I believe WHO should bring to the spotlight the issue of Health as a Human Right and the role of ethics and bioethics in informing health policy making at global and national level. To move ahead on this agenda, I will work closely with organizations of the UN system and ALL other partners to build consensus on a “Charter on the Rights to Health”.