UN HEALTH AGENCY URGES COUNTRIES TO REMAIN PREPARED FOR H1N1 VIRUS

New York, Nov 3 2009 5:10PM
The United Nations health agency today reiterated that countries need to remain prepared for the H1N1 virus, noting that the world has not yet hit the peak influenza season between January and February when more cases are expected.

“It is completely expected that they will be seeing more influenza cases at this time, and that they will continue to see more,” Gregory Hartl, spokesperson for the World Health Organization (<"http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/en/index.html">WHO), told a news conference in Geneva.

An H1N1 update issued by the agency last week indicated that large parts of North America and parts of Europe are already over what WHO calls the epidemic threshold, so there is substantial influenza activity and more is expected.

Mr. Hartl said the indication is that this will become widespread across the Northern Hemisphere and temperate zones as these areas move forward through the late autumn and winter.

In a related development, WHO has <"http://www.who.int/csr/don/2009_11_03/en/index.html">deployed a team of experts to Ukraine, following a request from the Government, which has recorded more than 250,000 cases of influenza-like illness.

“As the pandemic virus has rapidly become the dominant influenza strain worldwide, it can be assumed that most cases of influenza in Ukraine are caused by the H1N1 virus,” the agency said in a statement.

The team will begin initial work in the Lviv region, where reported numbers of cases showing severe manifestations of acute respiratory illness have been especially high.

While many questions remain to be answered, WHO stated that the outbreak in Ukraine may be indicative of how the virus can behave in the Northern Hemisphere during the winter season, particularly in health care settings typically found in Eastern Europe.

Despite concerns about the side effects of the H1N1 vaccine, WHO said it remains one of the best tools available to fight the virus.

“It has already been administered to hundreds of thousands of people. And so far we have not seen any severe side effects, and the number of side effects or adverse events, as we would call them, from this vaccine is in line with what we would expect from a seasonal flu vaccine,” said Mr. Hartl.

“Remember this vaccine is no different from any other vaccine in the sense that all vaccines will on rare occasions produce adverse events,” he noted, pointing out that the advantages of getting vaccinated far outweigh the risks at this point.

As of 25 October, there have been more than 440,000 laboratory confirmed cases of pandemic influenza H1N1 worldwide and over 5,700 deaths reported to WHO.

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SEAL THE DEAL: CLIMATE CHANGE ILLUSTRATES NEED FOR BETTER WATER MANAGEMENT

New York, Nov 3 2009 5:10PM
Water is at the centre of many of the worst natural disasters. Too much of it and there are floods that inundate homes and cropland and displace thousands of people. Too little of it, and there can be droughts that ruin harvests and destroy the livelihoods of entire communities.

Climate change is only increasing the severity and frequency of such events, and to devastating effect. Rising temperatures and sharply fluctuating levels rainfall have the potential to dramatically impact the availability and quality of water, hurting the poorest the most.

A United Nations-backed <"http://www.unwater.org/activities_WDbcn.html">Water Day is being held today to highlight how the issue of water intersects with all adaptation efforts during the last negotiating session in Barcelona, Spain, before next month’s conference on climate change in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The Day is supported by <"http://www.unwater.org/flashindex.html">UN-Water, an inter-agency group bringing 26 UN bodies and nearly two dozen external partners together to enhance coordination to deal with issues related to all aspects of freshwater and sanitation.

The issue of adaptation to climate change is “really all water-related,” said Frederik Pischke, adviser for UN-Water with the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (<"http://www.un.org/esa/desa/">DESA).

The consequences of climate change, including rising sea levels, will mainly be felt through their impacts on water, he stressed.

The management of water resources has implications for almost all corners of society and the economy, including health, food security, sanitation and energy.

Climate variability means that increasing stress will be placed on water, requiring urgent action, especially in the most vulnerable nations, according to UN-Water, which cautions that without improved management, gains made in reducing poverty and achieving the social and economic targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (<"http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/">MDGs) will be compromised.

The use of water must be “equitable, effective and responsible,” Mr. Pischke underscored.

National plans and international investment in climate change adaptation do not fully take into account the centrality of water, and any policy adopted must ensure that adaptation is a central part of any development strategy.

Therefore, “it would be good if there’s strong reference” to water in the agreement reached at next month’s conference in the Danish capital, Mr. Pischke said. The current negotiating <"http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2009/awglca7/eng/inf02.pdf">text does include references to water resources.

The UN and its partners, he pointed out, are already looking into how what is agreed upon in Copenhagen “to trigger the necessary action on the ground.”

Water Day, marked on the sidelines of the Barcelona talks, will feature sessions led by experts and advocates from governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) focusing on water’s relationship with livelihoods; ecosystems and forests; land; regional and transboundary cooperation; gender; and energy.

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GREATER UN COORDINATION CAN BOOST EFFORTS TO ACHIEVE ANTI-POVERTY GOALS – MIGIRO

New York, Nov 3 2009 4:10PM
Greater coordination among United Nations agencies is crucial to helping countries, including those in the Arab region, slash poverty, hunger, illiteracy and a host of other scourges, Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro told a meeting in Beirut today.

Ms. Migiro was <"http://www.un.org/apps/dsg/dsgstats.asp?nid=190">addressing the opening of the Regional Coordination Mechanism (RCM) meeting, which is designed to ensure that the various UN departments, agencies and other components in the region work more effectively together.

“We all appreciate that the objective of the RCM is mainly to achieve policy coherence and create synergy at the regional and sub-regional levels to improve the impact of our work,” she told the gathering in the Lebanese capital which was convened by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (<"http://www.escwa.un.org/">ESCWA).

“Not for the sake of coordination itself, but to help facilitate real results for our clients – the governments and peoples of our Member States.”

She noted that coordination and collaboration within and among UN agencies is “central” to efforts to achieve the global anti-poverty targets with a 2015 deadline, known as the Millennium Development Goals (<"http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/">MDGs), as well as other objectives, and stressed the importance of their combined strength.

“Each of you, as separate agencies, programmes and funds, have decades of experience in this region – experience that spans a wide variety of issues,” she said.

“What unites us is our commitment to the right of all children, women and men to live full and dignified lives, with the opportunity and freedom to realize their full potential.”

Ms. Migiro underscored the urgency of enhancing the level of coordination among UN bodies in the region, noting that the target date for achieving the MDGs is just a few years away. “With just over five years left in the MDG period, we must do everything possible to ensure that the Goals are met, across this region, and within each country.”

She added that Western Asia demonstrates that “great progress can be made when good policies are matched with adequate resources,” noting that child and maternal mortality are low across the region, and extreme poverty is limited.

Still, more can be done, she said, pointing out that more children need to be enrolled in school, good jobs should be available to more people, and greater efforts are needed to address hunger.

In addition, she noted that the Arab region can play a vital role in identifying success stories and pointing out challenges, ahead of the high-level General Assembly meeting on the MDGs slated to be held in September 2010.

“We hope this will enable us to catalyze effective action to replicate and scale-up existing successes… to fill gaps in our progress toward the Goals... and to make good on the MDGs’ promise for all of the world’s people,” said the Deputy Secretary-General, who will travel to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, this week for a similar regional coordination meeting convened by the Economic Commission for Africa (<"http://www.uneca.org/">ECA).

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