The Director General of the World Health Organisation, Margaret Chan, with Fiji’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva today..Photo:SUPPLIED
Fiji’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Nazhat Shameem Khan, paid a courtesy call on the Director-General of the World Health Organisation Margaret Chan today.
They discussed Fiji’s priorities in health services, and ways in which Fiji could intensify its engagement with the WHO. Ambassador Khan told the Director-General of the close and constructive working relationship between Fiji and the Regional Office of the WHO in Suva.
However, she said that there was a need for Fiji as a Pacific Island nation, to increase the frequency and depth of its engagement with the WHO Headquarters in Geneva. She spoke of the need to ensure that the Pacific voice was heard more in negotiations in relation to climate change and heath, to efforts in reducing the incidence of non-communicable diseases, and in the implementation of the right to health which is now included in the Constitution of Fiji.
Ambassador Khan presented the Director-General with a copy of Fiji’s Constitution, and discussed with her the scope of the right to health services which is set out in the Bill of Rights.
Director-General Chan welcomed the Ambassador to her office and suggested ways in which Fijian and other Pacific Islanders could ensure that their voices are heard more effectively on health issues in Geneva.
She spoke warmly of Fiji’s many achievements in relation to health care and services, and said that she looked forward to engaging further with Fiji and the Pacific Small Island Developing States in the future.
The Ambassador was accompanied by First Secretary Ajendra Pratap.
Press Release