WHO on board in bid to save mothers

The World Health Organisation (WHO) will continue to support the Government’s efforts to tackle the high rate of maternal deaths
Newly-elected regional director for Western Pacific Region of WHO, Dr Takeshi Kasai, is on his first visit to Papua New Guinea from today and will stay till Saturday, a statement said.
Takeshi will meet senior Government leaders and development agency representatives to discuss how WHO will continue to work with the Government to address PNG’s health challenges.
The first challenge of conversation is maternal and newborn health, followed by strengthening the PNG health system and supporting ongoing response to the current polio outbreak.
Takeshi will speak at the consultation meeting on maternal and newborn deaths in PNG and launch the PNG Health Systems in Transition Report tomorrow.
A doctor by training, Kasai’s career in public health began nearly 30 years ago when he was assigned to a post on the remote northeast coast of Japan to provide health services for the elderly.
He saw first-hand the value of building strong health systems from the ground up and he will be highlighting that in the meetings.
Kasai went on to work at different levels of the public sector in Japan and worked for WHO for more than 15 years.
As a technical officer and later director of the division of health security and emergencies at the regional office, he was instrumental in developing and implementing the Asia-Pacific Strategy.
This is for emerging diseases and public health emergencies, which guides member states to improve readiness and response in public health emergencies.
While in Port Moresby, he will meet with the polio response team.
On Friday, he will travel to one of the most-affected provinces, Eastern Highlands, to support the vaccination campaign.