SE Asian health ministers resolve to accelerate action

The 67th Session of WHO's Regional Committee for South-East Asia concluded in the capital on Friday with health ministers adopting resolutions to accelerate health action on key areas, reports UNB.

The RC endorsed the regional strategy for strengthening the role of the health sector in Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS). The Regional Committee recognised the need for strengthening CRVS and health information systems to ensure evidence-based decision-making.

The committee noted that reliable data is essential for effective health planning and management and those CRVS systems are crucial to obtain continuous, compulsory and cost-effective data on births, deaths and causes of death, said a WHO press release.

The committee urged the member states to implement the regional strategy, assess the national CRVS systems and support national capacity building.

WHO was requested to provide technical support to the member states for knowledge-sharing platforms encompassing a repository of tools and harmonise technical and financial support from different international agencies and partners to assist the member countries in implementing the standard verbal autopsy tools.