General Assembly Session 58 meeting 43

The President

Members will recall that the General Assembly held its debate on this agenda item, together with agenda item 10, at the 23rd to 27 th plenary meetings on 6, 7 and 9 October 2003. In connection with this item, the General Assembly has before it a draft resolution issued as document A/58/L.5.

I give the floor to the representative of China to introduce draft resolution A/58/L.5.

Mr. Wang Guangya (China)

I have the honour to introduce draft resolution A/58/L.5, entitled "Enhancing capacity-building in global public health", under agenda item 60.

To halt and to begin to reverse, by 2015, the spread of HIV/AIDS and the incidence of malaria and other major diseases is one of the development goals set down in the Millennium Declaration. To achieve such a goal, the international community needs to pay greater attention to capacity-building in global public health. The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in certain countries and regions in the first half of the year once again demonstrated that public health has become a global issue, which requires global cooperation. Only by enhancing the capacity of the international community to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other infectious diseases and by boosting national capacity-building in public health can there be a solid basis for development and prosperity in all countries. With that in mind, the Chinese delegation has taken the initiative of submitting the draft resolution entitled "Enhancing capacity-building in global public health".

The main elements of this draft resolution include recalling the Millennium Declaration adopted by heads of State and Government at the Millennium Summit and the development goals contained therein, in particular the health-related development goals; recognizing that the globalization of trade and increased international travel have increased the risk of the rapid worldwide spread of infectious diseases, posing new challenges to public health; noting with concern the deleterious impact on humankind of various major infectious diseases and epidemics, especially the heavy burden they impose on the developing countries; welcoming the current success of the affected countries in combating severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS); emphasizing the need for greater international and regional cooperation to meet new and existing challenges to public health; welcoming the efforts of the World Health Organization and other United Nations bodies, as well as the private sector and civil society, aimed at enhancing capacity-building in global public health and at promoting public health at the country level.

In the operative part, the draft urges Member States to further integrate public health into their national economic and social development strategies and consistently improve their public health systems; calls upon Member States and the international community to raise public awareness of good public health practices, including through education and the mass media; calls for the improvement of global public health preparedness and response systems, including systems of prevention and monitoring of infectious diseases; invites the regional social and economic commissions to cooperate closely with Member States in their capacity-building in public health; encourages United Nations agencies, bodies, funds and programmes to continue to address public health concerns in their development activities and programmes and to actively support capacity-building in global public health; and requests the Secretary-General to include observations on the issue of enhancing capacity-building in global public health in his report on the follow-up to the outcome of the Millennium Summit to be submitted to the General Assembly at its fifty-ninth session.

During the consultations on this draft resolution, delegations put forward many constructive ideas and proposals that further enriched the draft resolution and made it more comprehensive. I am confident that the adoption of this draft resolution by the General Assembly will not only inspire Member States to give higher priority to capacity-building in public health, but also to play an important role in achieving the development goals set in the Millennium Declaration.

Before the text was issued, 120 countries joined in the sponsorship of this draft resolution. Now, another 24 countries have joined in sponsorship -- Albania, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Ecuador, Estonia, Fiji, Gabon, Haiti, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Liechtenstein, Maldives, Mauritania, Monaco, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Seychelles, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uruguay and Uzbekistan. Please allow me to express, on behalf of the Chinese Government, our sincere thanks to all those countries that have shown interest and given their support. We hope that this draft resolution can be adopted by consensus.

The President

I call on the representative of Morocco, who will speak on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

Mr. Arrouchi (Morocco)

I would like, on behalf of the Group of 77 (G-77), to thank the delegation of China for having introduced this very important draft resolution on enhancing capacity-building in global public health. We fully support this initiative, as it will help the international community to further enhance capacity-building of global public health. This initiative will also contribute to the promotion of further implementation of the outcome of the Millennium Summit, particularly in reinforcing national public health infrastructures to face new challenges posed by deadly diseases worldwide. From the special session on HIV/AIDS, we know that the number of infected persons has increased from 36 million to 40 million, the majority of who are in Africa.

We look forward to a unanimous and enthusiastic decision by the General Assembly on this very important draft resolution.

Mr. Shamanov (Russia)

Regarding the draft resolution on capacity-building and global public health, we would like to point out the following.

At the crossroads of this twentieth and twenty-first century, public health has become a priority on the international agenda. The international community's consensus was reflected in a number of fundamental documents in recent times, including the Millennium Declaration and the Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development. In achieving sustainable development and eradicating poverty, protecting public health and strengthening national health services have taken on increasingly important roles, first of all as factors for the promotion and implementation of those objectives and secondly as indicators of the social and economic sustainability of society.

From this standpoint, we regard positively the Chinese-sponsored draft to enhance capacity-building in global public health and based on what we feel to be its great timeliness, we were one of the first sponsors. The principle importance of the document is that it does not focus on just one of the individual aspects of public health, but draws the attention of the international community to the strengthening of social public health services as the basic machinery. Major emphasis is put on the improvement of the systems for prevention and monitoring infectious diseases and for establishing partnerships among Governments, organizations and institutions of the United Nations system and international financial institutions, as well as the private sector and other representatives of civil society.

We would like to highlight with satisfaction the successful work of our Chinese colleagues on coming to an agreement on the draft. Evidence of this is the great number of sponsors for this document. We hope that it can adopted by consensus and we believe that the adoption of this resolution will give further important momentum to international cooperation for the purpose of carrying out the tasks of public health and sustainable development.

Mr. Cardoso (Brazil)

Let me convey my congratulations to the Chinese delegation for such an opportune and important initiative. Brazil was very pleased to be one of the sponsors at a very early stage of the consultations.

We note with satisfaction, out of the many important issues raised by this draft (A/58/L.5), a reference to the World Trade Organization (WTO) General Council's recent decision on the implementation of paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration on the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) and public health. This is a life-saving decision that allows poorer countries to deal with diseases that devastate their people. The overwhelming majority of people suffering from infectious diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, are in developing countries.

We attach great importance to health related issues. This year we will bring to the attention of the Third Committee initiatives already taken in the Commission on Human Rights on the universal right to enjoy the highest possible standard of physical and mental health and on access to medications in the context of pandemics such a as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.

If we are to attain the Millennium Development Goals, in particular the health related Development Goals, we must persevere in enhancing capacity-building in global public health, especially in developing countries.

Mr. Nambiar (India)

The achievement of the Millennium Development Goals of reducing child mortality, of improving maternal health and of combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases necessarily requires capacity-building in public health on a global basis.

Furthermore, ill health undermines economic development and impedes efforts to reduce poverty. Capacity-building in public health is in fact essential for economic growth and the achievement of the seven Development Goals of the Millennium Declaration.

India is happy to be associated with this draft resolution as a sponsor. We thank China for the initiative that they have taken.

In the context of the Development Goals adopted by the United Nations, it is important that the Organization also recognizes its close and direct link with public health. Not to do so would constitute a serious shortcoming in the details of any viable strategy for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

Member States of the United Nations have the primary responsibility for building and strengthening their public health capacities. The draft resolution recognizes, however, that the magnitude of the challenge may be beyond the capabilities of many developing countries. We are pleased to see in the draft an emphasis on the importance of active international cooperation. The report that the Secretary-General will give to us at the next session will, we expect, help us further address this matter.

The Commission on Macroeconomics and Health had, in its 2001 report, provided an approach to the development cooperation goal of the Millennium Declaration. We recognize that there has been movement, albeit somewhat limited, on its recommendations. We are happy that India, particularly through its pharmaceutical manufacturing capabilities, has been able to make a contribution. We hope that this draft resolution will encourage further effort in the direction recommended by the Commission. We join China in expressing appreciation for the positive and constructive spirit of the consultations held on this draft and also look forward to its adoption by consensus.