Health Minister Ramsammy is President of World Health Assembly

Source: Guyana Chronicle, 4th May 2008

MINISTER of Health, Dr Leslie Ramsammy, has been appointed president of the World Health Assembly and intends to zoom in on the challenges climate change poses to health, and also push for an “MDG Plus” to get the world to set key targets to address chronic diseases.

The World Health Assembly is the supreme decision-making body for the World Health Organisation (WHO) and is respected as the one of the most powerful instruments of the United Nations, second only to the General Assembly.

Dr Ramsammy’s appointment makes it the first time for a minister of the Americas to hold the post since 1972, and he becomes only the second representative from the region to do so. The Assembly this year meets from May 19-24 in Geneva, Switzerland.

The Assembly meets once a year and is attended by delegations from all of WHO's 192 Member States. Its main function is to determine the policies of the Organisation.

Minister Ramsammy said that his push for an “MDG Plus” comes from the fact that the world, in setting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), neglected to focus attention on chronic diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension and cancer. He said that chronic diseases are the leading cause of death (54%) in the Americas, and it his intention to highlight that gap in the formulation of the MDGs and thereby address the growing concern about these “neglected” diseases.

Heart disease, cerebrovascular disease (stroke), diabetes, and cancer are listed by the Ministry of Health as the leading cause of death among the 45-64 age group in Guyana.

Dr Ramsammy said that cervical cancer will come under the radar this year, given recommendations that girls ages 9-12 (generally regarded as the years preceding sexual activity) be given a Human Pappilomavirus (HPV) vaccine. This, Dr. Ramsammy said, because most cervical cancer develops because of HPV chronic infection.

He said the vaccine developed is effective against four forms of HPV and Guyana is currently conducting studies to ascertain if the vaccine would be useful here. According to Dr Ramsammy, the preliminary study seems to suggest that the vaccine would work locally, and the Ministry of Health is awaiting confirmation.

Dr Ramsammy said that he will also use his presidency of the 61st World Health Assembly to tackle the issue of climate change and its impact on global health.

He said changes in the weather pattern are affecting the distribution of diseases globally, and countries like Guyana are bracing for increases in dengue, malaria and asthma.

In addition, Minister Ramsammy said that the disease Schistomiasis is cause for increasing concern, and the Assembly will focus much attention on it this year. Also known as bilharziasis or snail fever, Schistomiasis is a parasitic disease caused by the larvae of one or more of five types of flatworms or blood flukes known as schistosomes.

Infections associated with worms present some of the most universal health problems in the world, with Schistomiasis accounting for most diseases, outside of malaria. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that 200 million people are infected and 120 million display symptoms. Another 600 million people are at risk of infection. Schistosomes are prevalent in rural and outlying city areas of 74 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. In Central China and Egypt, the disease poses a major health risk.

Dr Ramsammy said that while there are no cases of Schistomiasis in Guyana, the risk is there.

Minister Ramsammy has been a Post Doctoral Fellow (Neurochemistry) at the New York Institute of Developmental Disabilities and is a Senior Fellow, WINDRIF, St. Georges School of Medicine. He has more than 70 scientific publications and is the author of “HIV/AIDS – A Public Health Challenge.”

Dr Ramsammy holds a PhD in Biochemistry and a M.Sc. in Biology from St. John’s University, N.Y and a B.Sc. in Microbiology, Pace University, N.Y.

He has been serving as Minister of Health since 2001.

African Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu and Jordan’s Princess Noor will be guests at this year’s World Health Assembly.