The Vatican's Message to the World Health Organisation
(21 May 07 – RV) Health issues must be rooted in an anthropology respectful of the
human person. This was the Vatican’s key message to members of the World Health
Organisation who are currently holding their 60th assembly in Geneva, delivered by
the Vatican's permanent observer to the UN, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi. Hear more....
Read his full
address: Madam President, 1. The Holy See Delegation wishes to convey
its congratulations upon your election as President of this august assembly as well
as its sincere gratitude to Dr. Fernando Antezana Araníbar, who provided such excellent
leadership for the World Health Organisation Executive Board as it fulfilled its burdensome
responsibility to discern succession to the post of Director General following the
untimely death of Dr. J.W. Lee.
2. My delegation also expresses congratulations
to Dr. Margaret Chan upon her appointment as Director General of the World Health
Organisation. We welcome her designation of the health of women and of the people
of Africa as major concerns during her tenure in office. The Catholic Church has traditionally
been in the first line in the promotion of the authentic health of women, by helping
them to harmonize their physical, psychological and social well-being with moral and
spiritual values. In this line, the Catholic Church is also convinced of the God-given,
equal, and complementary dignity of women and men. The Catholic Church also prioritises
the most fruitful expression of complementarity between woman and man – that is, the
family which is founded upon lifelong and mutually faithful marriage and which continues
to serve as the mainstay of human society. This vision of human dignity, strongly
promoted by the Holy See, also is shared by citizens in many WHO member states. In
this same regard, it is the fervent hope of this delegation that discussion on and
implementation of Resolution EB 120.R6, “Integrating Gender Analysis and Actions into
the work of WHO” will never be utilised to “justify” doing harm to or destroying human
life during one of its most vulnerable stages - when still within the mother’s womb.
Furthermore, the Holy See wishes to invite the WHO member states once again to understand
the term “gender” as grounded in biological sexual identity, male or female.
Regarding
Africa, the Popes have repeatedly expressed deep concern over its anguished history
“where many nations are still in the grip of famine, war, racial and tribal tensions,
political instability and the violation of human rights”, and Pope Benedict XVI has
exhorted the international community, “we must not forget Africa …” 3. My delegation
wishes to commend, for particular attention by this Assembly, the resolutions and
recommendations with regard to the pandemics of Tuberculosis, Malaria, and HIV, as
well as those related to the projected exacerbation of Avian and Pandemic Influenza.
Much of the threat to health security caused by such diseases could adequately be
addressed were the global human family to commit itself to affordable and action-oriented
programmes of research, vaccination, treatment, and preventive education respectful
of the natural moral law. On 23-25 November 2006, the Vatican’s Pontifical Council
for Health Pastoral Care convened more than 500 experts to reflect on "Pastoral aspects
of the treatment of infectious diseases." In addressing those gathered, His Holiness
Pope Benedict XVI emphasized the need to implement social justice in the sensitive
area of treatment and nursing and therefore to ensure a fair distribution of resources
for research and treatment. In this same perspective, as the Chancellor
of Germany prepared to assume the presidency of both the G8 countries and the European
Union, the Holy Father, in a letter to her, expressed the hope that there would be
“… a substantial investment of resources for research and for the development of medicines
to treat AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and other tropical diseases is needed … There
is also a need to make available medical and pharmaceutical technology and health
care expertise without imposing legal or economic conditions.” 4. The Holy See
shares the concern expressed by the Secretariat of WHO in its Report on “Better Medicines
for Children”, for the tragic loss of life each year among some 10.5 million children
under five years of age; many of these children die of diseases that are treatable
in adults but for which appropriate dosages and formulations have not yet been developed
for paediatric use. Attention to this serious concern seems all the more compelling
in light of the recently-released report on “Scaling up priority HIV/AIDS interventions
in the health sector”, which noted, with much regret, that only 15% of HIV-positive
children in need of anti-retroviral treatment actually have access to these life-saving
therapies. Such treatment coverage is approximately one-half that achieved for HIV-positive
adults. The international community can no longer turn a deaf ear to the life-threatening
needs of children, many of whom can be counted among our most needy citizens but who
represent, as well, the future of the human community. While steps are being taken
to develop “Better Medicines for Children” and to revise and regularly update the
Model List of Essential Medicines in order to include those appropriate for paediatric
use, research that is ethically-based, transparent, and carefully-monitored, must
be conducted on the safety of such medicines before they are approved for treatment
of diseases affecting children. 5. As we approach the thirtieth anniversary of
the historic Alma Ata Declaration on Primary Health Care, the Holy See Delegation
is pleased to note the strategic attention being encouraged at this World Health Assembly
on such crucial topics as Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases, Rational
Use of Medicines, and, in particular, Health Promotion in a Globalized World with
a special focus on primary health care. In all the deliberations during this Assembly
and in the subsequent implementation of World Health Assembly Resolutions at national
and local levels, my delegation urges a perspective on health security that is grounded
on an anthropology respectful of the human person in his or her integrity and looks
far beyond the absence of disease to the full harmony and sound balance of the physical,
emotional, spiritual and social forces within the human person.