New policies promoting healthy practices unveiled

THE Department of Community Development last Friday launched three internal polices covering different health aspects to promote healthy practices within the department.
The three policies – Swine Flu Containment Plan, Occupational Health and Safety Policy and the HIV/AIDS Workplace Policy – were created to promote the department’s “Our wellness programme”.
Assistant secretary for community environment, Peter Simbakua, said the new policies were the result of a 12-month regional training workshop which showed that there was a need for a non-health sector approach to create a better health system that promoted a healthy lifestyle.
Mr Simbakua said the department realised there was a National Health Promotion Programme in existence but nobody was aware of this, which prompted them to take this on board and make people aware of its existence.
He said the Swine Flu Containment Plan would now be used as a template for any diseases that call for a national response, such as the cholera and dysentery outbreak.
Mr Simbakua said the launching of these internal policies was the result of a working dialogue between the secretaries of the departments of community development and health and also to promote the “Our wellness programme”.
Health secretary Dr Clement Malau said he was very happy that this department was personalising health into their workplaces, as it follows the Health Department’s plan of putting the human face of development in health first.
Dr Malau said he hoped to work closely with the department and see that more Government agencies and departments take these activities on board.
The three internal policies and the programme were launched by the Community Development secretary Joseph Klapat, Dr Malau and World Health Organisation (WHO) representative Dr Eigil Sorensen.