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Report of the 59th session of the WHO European Regional Committee
September 2009
WSMI is pleased to have attended the 59th session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe which took place in Copenhagen (Denmark) on 14-17 September 2009. WSMI notes with interest that noncommunicable diseases continue to be a priority for the work of the Regional Office for Europe especially with regard to controlling risk factors on tobacco, alcohol and obesity. Dr Marc Danzon, WHO Regional Director for Europe, encouraged the health sector to focus on its contribution to the development of society (including economic output) rather than its cost and the UK representative presented self-care as one of the four steps the country has taken to protect their health budget: "with the growth of chronic diseases, creating expertise in self-care and encouraging people to manage their own health create potential of huge savings". WSMI fully shares this view of the important role that self-care can play in healthcare systems; a country which fully encourages self-care can expect to have a healthier population and be able to redeploy scarce resources to priority areas.
[WSMI declaration on Self-Care and Self-Medication] - [59th session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe] |
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