Malaysia is part of UN health body’s executive wing after 26 years

Star: BENTONG: Malaysia has been elected as a member in the World Health Organisation (WHO) executive board after a lapse of 26 years, Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said.
“All of us from the ministry are elated over this great news.
“Being selected to the WHO executive board will enable Malaysia to enhance its image globally.
“At the same time, Malaysia can play an active role in health diplomacy and ensure efficient health policies are implemented,” he said at the “10,000 Langkah Sehari” event here yesterday.
Malaysia was last elected to the WHO executive board for the 1983-1985 term and had also previously served from 1963 to 1965.
Together with Australia, Malaysia was elected at the 62nd session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Western Pacific, which was held from Oct 10-14 in Manila, the Philippines.
This was to fill the two vacant seats representing the WHO Western Pacific region at the board for the 2012-2014 term.
Liow said there were only five seats allocated for WHO Western Pacific Region in the board.
The WHO Regional Committee for the Western Pacific is an annual meeting attended by health ministers from the Western Pacific region, where public health issues and challenges are deliberated.
There are 37 countries and areas in the region.
Liow said the WHO executive board comprised 34 members.
“The main functions of the board are to give effect to the decisions and policies of the World Health Assembly, to advise it and to facilitate its work,” he said.

On another matter, Liow said it was important to raise awareness on non-communicable diseases such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and heart problems.
“Not only do we need to observe healthy eating habits, we also need to exercise regularly to prevent ourselves from becoming overweight or obese,” he said.
He added that according to the ministry's survey in 2006, 14.2% of Malaysians were obese while another 29.1% were overweight.
Liow said school programmes such as measuring students' body mass index, teaching students how to count their calories and promoting healthy diets were some of the initiatives taken by the Government to prevent non-communicable diseases.
He said many Malaysians were still not aware of the danger of being diagnosed with these diseases as they were silent killers that did not show many symptoms.