IIMSAM Middle East Office Observed World Health Day

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) April 6, 2011 --

On this World Health Day IIMSAM reiterated its resolve to continue to work for making nutritional food Spirulina available to poor and vulnerable populations in countries where it has on-going health projects. Dr. Naseer Homoud Goodwill Ambassador and Director of Middle East office for the Intergovernmental Institution for the use of Micro-algae Spirulina against Malnutrition (IIMSAM), the Permanent Observer to the United Nations Economic and Social Council said “World Health Day reminds us of the formidable task ahead in the health and development sector. IIMSAM has an impressive record of serving communities in primary healthcare and for supplying nutritional food Spirulina. A number of our projects are in countries where people below the poverty line do not have access to primary healthcare facilities”.
Dr. Homoud contended that Health is a right. The Millennium Development Goals reaffirmed this right and provided targets for achieving it. Several reports review the obstacles women and young children face in fulfilling their right to health. It pays particular attention to new-borns, whose needs have fallen between the cracks. The reports also focuses on countries where progress in maternal and child health is slow, stagnant or reversing, where less than half of mothers and new-borns receive health care, and even those not the full range, he said.

World Health Day is celebrated every year on 7 April, under the sponsorship of the World Health Organization (WHO). In 1948, the World Health Organization held the First World Health Assembly. The Assembly decided to celebrate 7 April of each year, with effect from 1950, as the World Health Day. The World Health Day is celebrated to create awareness of a specific health theme to highlight a priority area of concern for the World Health Organization activities. World Health Day 2010 will focus on urbanization and health. The theme of this year celebrations is ‘Antimicrobial resistance: no action today, no cure tomorrow’. As WHO states that Antimicrobial resistance is not a new problem but one that is becoming more dangerous; urgent and consolidated efforts are needed to avoid regressing to the pre-antibiotic era there demand an urgent need to prioritize this issue. “We all know that Antibiotic resistance has been called one of the world's most pressing public health problems. Over the last decade, almost every type of bacteria has become stronger and less responsive to antibiotic treatment when it is really needed”, said Dr. Homoud.

On the occasion of World Health Day, IIMSAM Middle East Office is taking the opportunity to celebrate the women and men across the world and region in particular whose mission and daily work focus on supporting, caring for and investing in the health and well-being of individuals, families and communities. “The millions of health care providers working in every imaginable setting, tackling the full spectrum of health challenges and frequently enduring extremely difficult conditions are the essential ingredient in delivering all health initiatives and improving quality of life around the globe”, Dr. Homoud said.

Dr. Homoud urged that Antibiotics have undoubtedly made a major contribution to improvements in both human and animal health and welfare. The recent years have brought an alarming rise in the prevalence of resistance to some agents among certain groups of bacteria. Concern is growing that therapeutic options will become increasingly limited if resistance rates continue to rise. There is widespread agreement that action is required to reverse or at least slow down this process. “Necessary steps to manage the situation include better surveillance to assess accurately the extent of the problems, more prudent use of the available antibiotics to conserve valuable therapeutic resources and improved infection control to limit the spread of resistant organisms. Achieving these goals will not be possible without the government, medical professionals and public being better informed and educated. Regulatory bodies and the pharmaceutical industry need to work together to ensure a steady supply of new antimicrobials” said Dr. Homoud.

Dr. Naseer Homoud     IIMSAM     qatar