Country Statement by H.E. U Wunna Maung Lwin, Ambassador/Permanent Representative of the Union of Myanmar at the First Meeting of Health Ministers of the Non-Aligned Movement

(21 May 2008)

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) since its inception in April 1955 is an international organization of States considering themselves not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc.  Myanmar being one of its 118 members fully agrees to its purpose as stated in the Havana Declaration of 1979 which is to ensure "the national independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and security of non-aligned countries" in their "struggle against imperialism, colonialism, neo-colonialism, racism, Zionism, and all forms of foreign aggression, occupation, domination, interference or hegemony as well as against great power and bloc politics".

Indian Prime Minister H.E. Jawaharlal Nehru during his speech in 1954 in Colombo , Sri Lanka , first coined the term "Non-Alignment" and he describe five pillars to be used as a guide for Sino-Indian relations.  Later these five principles served as the basis of the Non-Aligned Movement.  They are – mutual respect for each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty, mutual non-aggression, mutual non-interference in domestic affairs, equality and mutual benefit and peaceful co-existence.  Ever since founding the Non-Aligned Movement its member States had strived to keep its guiding principles of non-alignment relevant.

In September 2006, during the XIV Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement held in Havana , the Heads of States agreed on the necessity to encourage the interaction of the Ministers responsible for portfolios of relevant to the movement.

We thank the NAM and welcome this first meeting of the Health Ministers of the Non-Aligned Movement which will focus on two important issues of "Migration and training of health personnel" and "Diseases that disproportionately affect  developing countries."

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is true that incidence of diarrhea-related diseases, dengue and malaria is more prevalent in developing than in industrialized countries and we support the assertion that poverty is the common denominator in most health-related issues and responsible for worsening of health indicators in developing countries.  We would like to state that in the context of prevailing international order, the rich and powerful countries continue to exert excessive influence on economic and commercial relations, which limits the potential for real economic growth in developing countries.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am sure you will agree that competent, motivated and committed staff members form the core of an effective and efficient health system.  Health system reforms can bring about intended benefits only when there is effective work force management.  The member countries of the South East-Asia Region is challenged with emerging infectious diseases such as SARS and Avian Influenza as well as, natural disasters in the past two decades.  The health workforce in the member countries are pressured to address the growing burden of both acute and chronic diseases which requires continuum of care, as well as preparedness for public health emergencies.

We agree with the Non-Aligned Movement's draft declaration which states that the scope of Health Work Force (HWF) problems in most countries are, inexistence of reliable statistics which has hindered the efforts to add visibility to communicable and unattended tropical diseases.  The lack of information on health work force situation, imbalances in numerical and geographical distribution, lack of appropriate competencies, lack of incentive system to motivate the Health Work Force (HWF) to provide services in the remote areas and ineffective Health Work Force (HWF) management capacity are regarded as priority health workforce problems.  We are in agreement that it is necessary to improve planning of human resources training according to country specific health needs.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

On the draft declaration on Migration and training of qualified health personnel, I would like to comment that the rich countries with a small percentage of the global burden of disease with a decent amount of health workers, spend more than 50% of the world health financing whereas other countries are not that fortunate.

I would like to express our concern on international migration of health workforce, the unplanned or excessive exits which may cause significant losses of workers and compromise the system's knowledge, memory and culture.  Systematic management of migration of health workers involves balancing the freedom of individuals to choose where they wish to work and the need to stem excessive movement from developing to developed countries.

We support the notion in the draft declaration of NAM 's Health Ministers that training of health workforce calls for generous financial investment, specialized equipments, skilled personnel, educationists over long term planning and implementation.  It is not only technical skills but instillation of values of solidarity and high ethical standards of true humane spirit of commitment to people's health and willingness to work in resource limited circumstances that matters most.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

In conclusion, I would like to reiterate my thanks to the NAM for holding this first Meeting of Health Ministers of the Non-Aligned Movement which has brought our nations together to strengthen our commitments for closer international cooperation in defense of the interest of developing countries as they strive to improve health and alleviate poverty.  I am certain that with concerted efforts we will prevail over the emerging diseases with a health workforce that is committed, competent and motivated to serve its people.

Thank you for your kind attention.