The World Health Organisation has appointed Singapore as a WHO Collaborating Centre in recognition of the good work on health promotion and disease prevention that the Health Promotion Board (HPB) staff have put in over the years.

Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan said that the friendships Singapore has made with health officials of the world is invaluable especially during an outbreak of infection diseases.

Speaking at a lunch today to commemorate World Health Day, Mr Khaw said he meets the health ministers from Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Solomon Islands and Vietnam at WHO and Asean forums but that these meetings are "never enough."

"As health problems increase, I find value in hearing their advice and their experience. More importantly, as healthcare risks extend beyond national borders, I find our friendships valuable as we can easily pick up the telephone and touch base with one another when occasions demand such direct communication. We did that often during the Sars crises and found it was to our mutual benefit," he told the lunch guests, who included Dr Margaret Chan, WHO Director-General.

Mr Khaw also revealed that it was Dr Chan, who had proposed to hold a WHO Day event outside its headquarters in Geneva and that Singapore be the joint host. Said the Minister: "We accepted her proposal immediately."

Of Dr Chan, he said: "Dr Margaret Chan is an old friend of Singapore and knows all the nooks and corners here, having stayed here for quite some time in the past. She has many friends here and I hope this trip will also allow some time for her to renew her friendship with most of them."

He also welcomed Dr Linda Milan from the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office; Mr Jonas Store, Norwegian Foreign Minister and Mr Philip Chen, Cathay-Pacific's chief executive.

"They have vast experience in cross-border issues and we all look forward to hearing their thoughts on the subjects later."

As for the food the delegates will have, Mr Khaw says: "I encourage the media to also highlight the meals served during WHO Meetings to show that Health Ministers do walk the talk."

HPB milestones
On Singapore as a WHO Collaborating Centre, a HPB statement said that the baord is committed to fostering collaborations and strengthening information sharing of best practices in health promotion and disease prevention with WHO member countries.

To do so, HPB aims to strengthen international collaboration and information-sharing with WHO member countries through sharing of best practices in School Health Promotion and Workplace Health Promotion, providing of short-term consultancies, organising/ participating in WHO regional meetings and trainings, and facilitating WHO fellowships.

Prior to this designation, HPB has been an active partner of WHO in its efforts to promote health globally.

Singapore participated in the 6th Global Conference on Health Promotion in August 2005 and supports the Bangkok Charter on Health Promotion which was adopted at that meeting. In May 2004, Singapore ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the first global public health treaty adopted by WHO which aims to address the serious health consequences of tobacco use through international action.

Since the institution of HPB in 2001, the organisation has hosted and organised 13 study visits and WHO fellowship programmes on topics including school health, cancer screening and prevention, tobacco control and health education for communicable disease control.

In 2002, HPB worked with the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office (WPRO) and the US Centres for Disease Control to conduct two concurrent workshops, ?The Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) Training? and ?Data Management Workshops for the Western Pacific Region?.

In February 2006, HPB hosted the First Technical Meeting of WHO Collaborating Centres for Health Promotion.

Plans as a WHOCC on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention

In the coming years, HPB will be organising several training programmes and regional meetings on the topics of workplace health promotion and school health promotion. Two speakers from WHO, Western Pacific Regional Office, will also be presenting keynote addresses at the 14th Biennial School Nurses International Conference which Singapore is hosting in July this year.