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SPC Director General Dr Stuart Minchin Opening remarks for FSM Health Summit 2024, Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia
"Better Health for All"
Hon. Stevenson Joseph, Governor for State of Pohnpei – dsqd
Hon. Aren Palik, Vice- President of the Federated States of Micronesia
Mr Marcus Samo, Secretary for Department of Health and Social Affairs
Mr. Matt Shortus, Acting CLO for the World Health Organisation
Distinguished participants, ladies and gentlemen. Kaselehlie and Good morning to you all.
I am deeply honored to join you this morning at the opening of the 2024 FSM Health Summit. It is indeed a privilege to finally visit your beautiful country. I am in awe with how beautiful and lush this part of the Pacific is. I have been planning for this visit for a while and I am glad it finally happened. I thank you for inviting me and the privilege to deliver these remarks.
At the outset, I want to remind you that while I stand before you as the Director-General of the Pacific Community – SPC. SPC is your organisation. It has been created to provide technical and scientific support for all Pacific Island Countries and Territories, in which FSM is an active and valued member. We were created to serve and support our members achieve sustainable development. We are guided by the needs and priorities of our members, and we are governed by our members. This is why we exist.
The theme for this summit, "Better Health for All” resonates deeply with everything we do at SPC, as it focuses on the well-being of our people! Our people are the most important resource of our Blue Pacific Continent, and we must have a healthy and productive population to live in a thriving and peaceful Pacific.
Health care for our people underscores everything we do, and we cannot reach our fullest potential if we do not address the complex and multifaced challenges that continues to face our health systems and contribute to the health crisis of our people.
We cannot address the problems facing our health system and people in isolation nor work in silos. Better Health for All means all hands-on deck! It acknowledges that all sectors have a role to play to support and contribute to the health of our people.
Our region continues to have the highest burden of NCDs, which accounts for up to 75% of all deaths in the Pacific. Our geographic dispersion creates significant barriers to health service access and delivery for many of our people and communities. Our already fragile economies make it increasingly difficult to invest in robust healthcare systems.
The impact of climate change on our health service and people is one that needs immediate action. Climate change is directly contributing to humanitarian emergencies, from heatwaves, floodings, tropical storms and hurricanes and drought. As you have experience in the recent drought driven by El Nino, where the threat of decline in water supply causes tremendous impact upon sanitation and public health. Similarly, the Marshall Islands also declared a state of emergency due to little or no rain in the past two to three months. This has become common phenomena across the Pacific, with island nations often bearing the brunt of the health consequences. Our women, young children, and the elderly are often the most vulnerable. We need to act now to invest in climate-resilient health infrastructure.
At SPC we recognised the need to bring together and connect our capabilities and resources from across the organisation to achieve collective impact for our work. This is why we have developed our flagship programmes to address issues that cut across our areas of work, these include climate change, food systems, oceans and gender equality. We acknowledge that we must continue to innovate and adapt our ways of working to better address the evolving and complex needs of our people. Our flagship programmes will enable us to tackle some of the regional health challenges in a coordinated way.
Similarly, our work around innovation and digital transformation is more important than ever. The urgent need to transform our health system and build resilient workforces demands a more than ever focus on innovation and digital transformation. This requires the development of integrated health systems that engage health programmatic collaboration and utilizes innovation to improve access, quality and efficiency in primary health care. This is imperative if we want to achieve Universal Health Care and coverage for our people.
To support these efforts, SPC continues to innovate and adapt its ways of working, while learning along the way. This includes incorporating research, using data-driven approaches to improve program design and implementation, and fostering partnerships with international agencies, national governments, and non-state organizations. By doing so, we can meet the evolving health needs of our Pacific communities effectively and sustainably.
While we have come a long way in improving our health system and made considerable progress on many health indicators, we still have much ground to cover with a large portion of our population unable to access effective and good-quality health services. We must strengthen health systems to reach everyone, everywhere.
SPC, through its Public Health Division is proud to support and work with the Department of Health and Social Service to address some of the health challenges in FSM. We have been able to facilitate the procurement of consumables for medical supplies and equipment, testing kits, supported capacity building and trainings and participation in regional meetings and conference.
As your regional organisation we remain firmly committed to supporting the government of FSM through our scientific and technical capabilities, to work alongside and with you in addressing your national health sector priorities. We acknowledge that achieving better health for all requires more than just dialogue – it demands active collaboration among all stakeholders. Which is why summits such as this are very important, as a catalyst for collective action, recognising that we all have a part to play.
As leaders and change-makers, I encourage you to engage in deep and meaningful discussions over the next few days. Let us be open to learning from one another's experiences and ready to collaboratively take bold steps towards a healthier future for our families and communities.
In closing, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone involved in organizing this important summit. I am honoured to join you this morning for the opening ceremony and to have the privilege of addressing you all. May your deliberations and dialogue over the next few days be fruitful and garner positive outcomes for your country and the region.
Kalahngan! Thank you!
