RI-SPONSORED RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY WHO EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING

London, Jan 23 (ANTARA) - The Indonesian delegation to a WHO executive board meeting in Geneva has successfully sponsored a resolution on improvement of people's health through safe and environmentally sound waste management, an Indonesian official said. at the 126th session of the WHO executive board in Geneva.

Acep Sumantri, spokesperson of the office of the Indonesian Permanent Representative in Geneva, told ANTARA on Saturday Indonesia had presented the draft of the resolution at 128th session of the WHO executive board as president of the Basel Convention.
Indonesia's initiative was a follow-up to the Bali Declaration on Waste Management for Human Health and Livelihood which was adopted at the ninth conference of parties (COP) to the Basel Convention in Bali in June 2008, he said.

In the proposing process, the Indonesian delegation gained the support of 37 WHO member countries, namely Argentina, Armenia, Brunei, Bangladesh, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Monaco, Nigeria, Switzerland and 27 EU member states, Sumantri said.

In response to the adoption of the resolution, Indonesia's permanent representative in Geneva, Ambassador Dian Triansyah Djani, said it was strong evidence that the WHO recognized Indonesia's leadership in both health and environmental issues.

The resolution itself was also an admission that mismanaging unfriendly and harmful wastes would have an impact on public health.

Therefore, WHO member countries needed to work together with the WHO director general to improve public health through a sound, safe, and environmentally-friendly waste management, he said.

The HHO executive board session was opened last January 18 and ended on January 23. The Indonesian delegation was headed by Health Minister Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih.

At the meeting, the participants discussed a wide range of issues, including influenza pandemics and global efforts to eradicate measles and prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases.

They also talked about strategies to reduce the harmful use of alcohol, a global code for recruitment of international health workers and the proposed revision of WHO guidance on international control of psychoactive substances.

On the influenza pandemics, Endang said to enhance the world's ability to respond to these pandemics more rapidly, the WHO's 2007 Resolution on influenza pandemic preparedness should be implemented in transparent, fair, sustainable, and balanced ways.

Through the resolution's transparent implementation, WHO member countries would get maximum benefit from the resolution, Endang said as quoted by Acep Sumantri.

The WHO executive board has 34 members technically qualified in the field of health. Members are elected for three-year terms.