WHO Focuses On More Balanced Health Care

WHO Focuses On More Balanced Health Care

September 13, 2007

Fifty-eighth Session of the WHO Regional Committee for the
Western Pacific;
10-14 September 2007, Jeju, Republic of Korea


    JEJU, Republic of Korea, Sept. 13 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/
-- The World Health Organization (WHO) is spearheading a
move to make health care systems in Asia safer, holistic
and people-centred.

    (Logo:
http://www.xprn.com/xprn/sa/20061102095006-51.jpg )

    WHO is concerned that health systems and services have
become so disease focused, technology driven and doctor
dominated that they fail to respond to patient needs and
expectations.  
    In response, the WHO Regional Office for the Western
Pacific, in collaboration with the WHO Regional Office for
South-East Asia, drafted People-Centred Health Care: A
Policy Framework to ensure that broader psychological,
social, ethical and cultural determinants of health are
also taken into account.  The framework provides practical
guidelines to Member States in reorienting their health
systems.  The draft framework is expected to be endorsed by
WHO's Regional Committee, which is meeting here.
    Dr. Shigeru Omi, WHO Regional Director for the Western
Pacific, said global and regional trends indicate that
current health systems and services need to be reoriented
to promote and preserve health in its fullest sense:
complete physical, mental and social well-being and not
merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
    "There is a need to restore balance in health
care, including the health system itself," Dr Omi
says.  "Moreover, medical education has increasingly
concentrated on body systems and disease conditions so that
the broader and important aspects of cultural context,
psychosocial factors, medical ethics, and communication and
relational skills, among others, have been neglected."
    The policy framework identifies four core areas in
which reforms could be undertaken to translate the
principles behind the people-centred approach into
appropriate and setting-specific interventions:

    -- Informed and empowered individuals, families and
communities
    -- Competent and responsive practitioners
    -- Effective health care organizations
    -- Supportive health systems

    "Studies show that half of patients are
dissatisfied with current health care, and roughly the same
proportion see no significant improvement over a five-year
horizon," Dr Omi said.  He pointed out that a paradigm
shift in health systems towards people-centred health care
can increase patient safety. Other potential gains are
improved adherence to care plans, improved treatment and
health outcomes, increased patient satisfaction with care,
and improved quality of life for patients, their families,
the community and society in general.


    For more information, please contact:

    The World Health Organization
     Ms Marilu Lingad 
     Tel:    [phone]
     Email:  [e-mail] 

     Mr Peter Cordingley 
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]