Press material

At the sixty-first session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe, being held in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 12 to 15 September 2011, the WHO Regional Office for Europe will present an action plan to Member States to halt the increasing spread of HIV in the WHO European Region.

This week, at the sixty-first session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe, held in Baku, Azerbaijan, the 53 countries that make up the governing body for the WHO European Region are set to endorse an ambitious and rigorous action plan to combat multidrug- and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (M/XDR-TB).

The 53 countries in the WHO European Region meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan from 12 to 15 September 2011 are endorsing a plan to reduce the harmful use of alcohol. In this Region, alcohol is the second largest risk factor for the death and disease burden, just after tobacco use.

In 2011, the world is waking up to a major threat to health and to economies. European governments are defining the actions they must take to control it. Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as cancer, heart disease, chronic respiratory disease and diabetes account for over 86% of deaths and 77% of the disease burden in the WHO European Region. In advance of a United Nations General Assembly high-level meeting on the subject next week, the health ministers of Europe are today set to discuss the core actions needed to control these diseases, in the face of the double burden of disease and financial crisis.

The WHO Regional Office for Europe today announced the findings of a comprehensive study that explores current thinking and innovative practices related to governance for health in the 21st century. The study also makes recommendations on how governments can strengthen governance for health through collaboration. Ministers of health and other high-ranking health officials from the 53 countries of the WHO European Region will discuss the study’s findings and recommendations at the WHO Regional Committee for Europe meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan from 12 to 15 September 2011.

Public health is a matter of public concern. On every proposal before the WHO European Region’s governing body, meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan on 12–15 September 2011, WHO/Europe has conducted wide consultation with technical experts, Member States, civil-society and partner organizations, and the online public.

European ministers from 53 countries are set to endorse a new action plan to address MDR-TB the week of 12-15 September 2011 at the WHO Regional Committee for Europe in Baku, Azerbaijan.