Address by and Report of the Regional Director at the seventy-seventh session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Western Pacific

Honourable Chairperson,

Honourable Ministers,

WHO Director-General,

Distinguished representatives of Member States and partner agencies,

My dear colleagues and friends, 

Magandang hapon. Good afternoon.

Today, I have the privilege of reporting on WHO’s work in the Western Pacific from July 2025 to June 2026. 

You will find a copy of my report in front of you, together with a copy of Health Statistics in the Western Pacific Region 2026 for reference. 

My report tells a story. 

It is the story of how you, our Member States, continued to invest in health during uncertain times. 

It is the story of health workers who continued to serve, often in very difficult circumstances. 

And it is the story of communities that continued to adapt and move forward. 

Looking back over the past year, I see one common theme. 

We are making progress. 

But long-standing problems remain. 

Old challenges are now colliding with new ones. 

From access to care and childhood immunization, to workforce shortages, we still have unfinished business. 

At the same time, new challenges keep emerging. 

Climate change is reshaping how diseases spread, placing additional pressures on our health systems, and displacing communities. 

A rapidly ageing Region is contributing to the growing burden of noncommunicable diseases. 

And competing demands are squeezing already limited health budgets. 

This year, a conflict beyond our control raised not only the cost of delivering health services, but also the cost of running countries.

In many places, it has become a struggle simply to keep the lights on in our health centres. 

Yet, for every old challenge, we have a response strengthened by experience. A stitch that has held us together through the years. 

And for every new challenge, we are weaving new threads. 

We are adapting, we are innovating, and refining what works. 

Weaving Health for All, endorsed by our Member States two years ago, shows how multiple strands of action must come together. 

After another year of implementation, we can see more clearly both the strength of the weave and the gaps that remain between its strips. 

The vertical strands represent our five action areas for cooperation with Member States and partners. 

Connecting them are the horizontal strands.

They reflect WHO’s role as an enabler bringing together people, partnerships, knowledge and resources to turn our shared priorities into action. 

This is our joint manifesto: Health systems strong enough to withstand what is coming, and equitable enough to leave no one behind. 

A fit-for-purpose WHO in the Western Pacific 

Let me begin with WHO itself. 

Despite the financial disruptions we have faced, we have used this moment as an opportunity to become smarter, more focused, and more efficient. 

Above all, we are becoming stronger where it matters most: in countries. 

Our updated Core Country Office Model gives country offices the people, resources and simpler processes they need to support governments more effectively. 

We have sharpened our focus around 11 regional technical priorities, aligned with country priorities. 

More than 70% of our technical programme budget now goes towards these priority areas. 

For 2026–2027, the share of the programme budget going directly to country offices has risen from 62% to 68%. 

But we intend to go further still. 

Our office in the Federated States of Micronesia is now a full WHO Representative Office. 

It also serves the Marshall Islands and Palau – strengthening our presence and support across the Northern Pacific. 

At the Regional Office in Manila, our technical work is now organized around four major areas: 

• health promotion and disease control;
• health systems and services;
• health emergencies; and
• data, strategy and innovation. 

In Seoul, our Asia-Pacific Centre for Environment and Health is more than a specialized office. 

It is leading our climate work across the Western Pacific and is increasingly recognized for its contribution globally. 

At the heart of all this are our people. 

We continue working to build a workplace grounded in respect, inclusion and trust. 

A workplace where every staff member feels safe and empowered to speak up. 

The Regional Ombudsperson has resumed engagement. 

This is an important avenue for staff support. 

On sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment, our commitment remains clear: zero tolerance. 

Strong partnerships and predictable public financing remain key 

None of our work would be possible without strong partnerships. 

Over the past year, we forged new partnerships including with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Kanagawa Prefecture of Japan, the Rockefeller Foundation and The Borrow Foundation. 

The Institute of Philanthropy continued to support our work in health emergency preparedness, workforce capacity and the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases. 

The Philippine-Pacific Health Initiative, PhilPac, is connecting the Philippines and Pacific island countries to exchange knowledge and share practical solutions. 

Our 214 WHO collaborating centres across the Region remain a deep well of knowledge and expertise that can be mobilized to support our Member States. 

We also supported Cambodia in hosting the ninth Asia-Pacific Parliamentarian Forum on Global Health. 

We are grateful for the continued support from our Member States – Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand and the Republic of Korea. 

We are also grateful to Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia and the Philippines, and Singapore for new agreements linked to the WHO Investment Round. 

To all our partners and Member States, I offer my sincere thanks.

Updates on vertical strands of the regional vision 

Let me now turn to the progress we have made across the five programmatic strands of our regional vision. 

Excellencies, I cannot showcase every success achieved by our Member States. 

We would need several more days. 

But I can offer a snapshot of what we have accomplished together over the past year. 

Strand 1: transformative primary health care for universal health coverage 

The first strand is transformative primary health care for universal health coverage. 

At the heart of our Regional vision is a simple principle. 

Everyone should be able to receive the health care they need, when they need it, without suffering financial hardship. 

We have made real progress towards that goal.

Universal health coverage 

The Region’s universal health coverage index rose from 63 in 2000 to 81 in 2023. 

This means that four in five people can now access essential health services. 

But that progress remains uneven. 

Scores range from 32 in Papua New Guinea to 89 in Australia and New Zealand. 

Even within countries, national averages may hide significant differences. 

People living in highly urbanized cities often have far greater access to services than those in remote, rural or island communities. 

Closing that gap is at the heart of our work. 

Through our Primary Health Care Initiative, we are helping countries develop solutions suited to their own needs. 

In the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, this has meant establishing an entirely new subdistrict level to bring services closer to communities. 

In Papua New Guinea, we are supporting four subnational health authorities to integrate services. 

In Mongolia, mobile health units now reach all 21 provinces, including communities located farthest from the capital, Ulaanbaatar. 

WHO does not prescribe a single template for every country to follow. 

Instead, we help countries test, adapt and strengthen reforms that respond to their own realities. 

Health workforce 

None of this can succeed without health workers. 

Since 2000, doctor density in the Region has increased from 13.1 to 23.2 per 10 000 people. 

The density of nurses and midwives has risen from 36.3 to 45.8 per 10 000 people. 

But absolute numbers do not tell the whole story. 

What also matters is where health workers serve, whether they have the right skills, and whether they are supported and compensated well enough to stay. 

WHO is helping countries strengthen workforce policies, planning and data use. 

We are also working to ensure that international recruitment is fair and ethical. 

Across the Region, countries are taking action. 

Cambodia has adopted a new Health Workforce Development Plan. 

Malaysia has developed a 10-year blueprint for allied health professions. 

Fiji, Kiribati, Naoero, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu are using WHO platforms to strengthen workforce data and planning. 

We are also seeing encouraging progress in regulatory systems. 

The Region now has five WHO Listed Authorities: Australia, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Singapore. 

These authorities are a valuable resource for the entire Region, even as other countries continue strengthening their own regulatory systems. 

Immunization 

Immunization is another area where progress and unfinished business sit side by side. 

In 2025, around 1.7 million children in the Western Pacific had not received a single vaccine. They are the zero-dose children. 

That is 1.7 million children left completely unprotected. 

Samoa’s 2019 measles outbreak was a tragic reminder of the cost of gaps in population immunity. 

Since then, sustained efforts have helped rebuild protection. 

Second-dose measles vaccination coverage rose to 76% in 2025, an increase of 17 percentage points. 

Following measles outbreaks in 2025, the Philippines and Mongolia stepped up vaccination activities. 

But the global financing landscape for immunization has changed dramatically in recent years. 

We can no longer rely heavily on donor support to finance national immunization programmes. 

Now is the time for every government in the Western Pacific to invest in our children through well-funded, well-staffed and sustainable vaccination programmes. 

The Western Pacific could become the first WHO region to eliminate measles if we act together with urgency and determination. 

Each of us must identify the weakest link in our immunization work and make it stronger. 

I continue to urge all of us to achieve at least 90% coverage among all children by 2029 as set out in our regional vision.

Hypertension 

Noncommunicable diseases are by far the greatest health burden in our Region, accounting for almost 90% of deaths. 

Consider hypertension.

The good news is that reducing premature deaths from hypertension is within our reach.

Yet control rates remain below 20% in many countries. 

In some Pacific countries and areas, they remain under 10%. 

That is far below the 50% implied by global targets. 

Only the Republic of Korea currently exceeds that benchmark. 

Through our Healthy Hearts work we have set an ambitious goal: To treat an additional 100 million people with hypertension in the Region by 2030. 

There has been progress, but we need to accelerate. 

Viet Nam has screened up to 10 million people and treated more than 2 million. 

The Philippines' hypertension initiative now covers 14.6 million adults. 

Brunei Darussalam is developing evidence-based policies to prevent obesity. 

In many settings, it costs less than US$ 20 per person per year to control hypertension.  

This is low-hanging fruit. We must not allow it to remain unpicked. 

Oral health 

Oral health is another priority that affects people of all ages. 

Last year, the Regional Committee supported our first comprehensive oral health implementation plan. 

Oral health is now firmly on our regional health agenda, and we have a shared direction for action. 

In partnership with The Borrow Foundation, WHO will continue supporting this priority across the Western Pacific. 

Member States now have a framework for integrating oral health more fully into primary health care and expanding access to essential services.

Communicable diseases

On communicable diseases, progress remains uneven.

Tuberculosis still causes an estimated 2.9 million new cases each year.

On HIV, we are seeing profound progress alongside a serious prevention crisis.

Cambodia became the first country in Asia and the Pacific to achieve the triple 95 HIV testing and treatment targets.

Malaysia has maintained the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis.

At the same time, Fiji is facing a rapidly growing HIV epidemic.

It is expanding prevention, access to safe injecting equipment, and stigma-free care.

The Philippines is stepping up its response to HIV with a particular focus on young people.

Together, these experiences remind us of the need for sustained investments in HIV prevention, treatment and community-led responses.

On malaria, Cambodia has recorded no deaths since 2018 and no local transmission this year.

In Solomon Islands, falciparum malaria cases on Guadalcanal Island have fallen by half since 2023.

We are also seeing progress against neglected tropical diseases.

Once again, I congratulate Australia on eliminating trachoma as a public health problem.

And so far, this year, no schistosomiasis infections have been reported in one province of the Lao PDR.

Alongside the stubborn challenges, we therefore have inspiring victories that show what determined action can achieve.

Strand 2: climate resilient health systems

Let me now turn to our second strand, climate-resilient health systems.

Nowhere is the collision between old and new challenges more visible.

We face higher temperatures, more extreme weather, changing patterns of infectious diseases, and growing food and water insecurity.

Entire communities are being displaced by floods, drought and fires.

Our hospitals and health centres and are not spared.

And as we speak, El Niño is upon us. This is not simply a weather event. It is a threat to our food, our water and our health.

Member States must prepare and act early.

Over the past year, climate resilience has stopped being a side project in the Western Pacific.

It has become a cornerstone of our work.

The Regional Committee endorsed our regional climate and health action plan.

Half of the Region now has national climate strategies or adaptation plans that address health, from Micronesia to Mongolia.

But 10 countries have yet to include health in their climate planning.

Seven of them are Pacific island countries which are among the most vulnerable to climate-related risks.

Across the Region, we are helping countries increase the climate resilience of health systems and facilities.

Through our Alliance for Transformative Action on Climate and Health, we developed CLEARPLUS, a shared toolkit for assessing climate risks in health facilities.

First piloted in Malaysia, it is now being used in Fiji's smallest outer-island clinics.

Through our partnership with the Korea International Cooperation Agency, KOICA, we are supporting Fiji and Kiribati to strengthen climate resilience across their health systems.

Similar work is under way in Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu through a WHO and UNDP project – funded by the Global Environment Facility.

But resilience requires financing.

This year, the Green Climate Fund designated WHO as an accredited entity.

This will open a direct channel through which countries can seek climate financing for resilient hospitals and early-warning systems.

Through the new ACE-FIT tool, we are already helping countries develop bankable investment cases.

The new WHO-coordinated Lancet Commission on sea-level rise has also placed the health of island nations at the centre of the global climate conversation.

COP31 next month will be the first United Nations climate conference with health as a dedicated theme.

We are building on the momentum of a successful Pre-COP31 meeting co-hosted by Australia, Fiji and Tuvalu earlier this month.

As a Region, we are well-positioned to seize this moment, and ensure that health remains at the heart of climate action.

Strand 3: resilient communities, societies and systems for health security

Our third strand is Resilient Communities, Societies and Systems for Health Security.

This work offers perhaps the clearest example of old lessons being used to build new capabilities.

The old challenge was speed.

COVID-19 taught us that preparedness cannot begin when an emergency is already upon us.

It must begin long before the crises arrive.

It begins with surveillance, laboratories, trained personnel, trusted systems and the ability to act together.

In 2023, it took an average of 20 days for a Public Health event to be notified to WHO. Today, it takes 48 hours.

That means threats can be identified while there is still time to act.

Member States endorsed a regional plan to implement the amended International Health Regulations.

Eight Member States have already designated a National IHR Authority.

For two consecutive years, every Member State has submitted its annual IHR self-assessment.

Mongolia established both a National Centre for Disease Control and a Public Health Emergency Operations Centre.

In 2025, every country and area reported timely access to genomic sequencing for epidemic prone pathogens.

WHO also helped 12 additional countries secure US$ 69 million from the Pandemic Fund.

This brings the regional total to 15 countries and US$ 169 million.

And when emergencies struck, WHO was there.

We supported the response to the Pacific's largest dengue outbreak in decades, from Samoa to Tokelau to other Pacific island countries.

WHO also supported responses to vaccine-derived polio events in Indonesia, Lao PDR and Papua New Guinea.

In November 2025, Indonesia declared that its outbreak had ended.

I thank the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and Gavi for their support.

When hostilities along the Cambodia-Thailand border displaced more than 170 000 people, we helped maintain essential health services.

We released more than US$ 600 000 from the Contingency Fund for Emergencies to Cambodia, the Federated States of Micronesia and Viet Nam.

We also helped countries prepare for ebola and Andes hantavirus. No cases have been detected in the Region.

In April, Indonesia and France co-hosted the first-ever global One Health Summit.

One health recognizes a simple but essential truth: human, animal and environmental health are interconnected.

This approach is gaining momentum in the Region.

Cambodia's Prime Minister reaffirmed the country's commitment to One Health at all levels.

Tonga hosted the Pacific's first National Bridging Workshop to strengthen collaboration and coordination.

Sixteen Member States now have One Health coordination mechanisms or strategies.

Taken together, these developments point to a fundamental shift.

Health security is no longer something we begin building only when a crisis arrives.

It is becoming a permanent regional capability.

Strand 4: healthier people throughout the life course

Our fourth strand asks a simple important question: Can our health systems care for everyone at every stage of life?

Over the past year, the Region continued moving towards prevention, integrated care and action on the broader determinants of health.

This means designing systems around people’s lives, rather than around the boundaries between programmes or institutions.

We can see this shift in the way countries are approaching healthy ageing.

National policies are advancing, while primary health care teams are strengthening care for older people.

The Age-friendly Cities and Communities network now has more than 170 members across nine countries and areas.

This matters because our systems should help people remain healthy, independent and connected for as long as possible.

The same principle applies to children and young people.

We are bringing health into schools and communities, instead of expecting people to navigate fragmented services on their own.

For children and young people, WHO and UNESCO co-developed an Essential School Health Service Package.

It covers immunization, NCD prevention, oral health, mental health and violence prevention.

The approach was piloted during School Health Week in Vanuatu, bringing essential health services to children.

Tobacco use, however, remains a major concern.

The regional prevalence of tobacco use among people aged 15 years and older declined from almost 25% in 2015 to just under 23% in 2024.

The progress is both modest and uneven.

The available data also do not capture the full picture because they exclude e-cigarettes and other new nicotine products that are attracting young people.

Countries are responding.

Viet Nam has strengthened restrictions on e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products and has banned e-cigarette investments outright.

Kiribati has strengthened its tobacco control legislation while Lao PDR has operationalized its tobacco control law.

Across the Region, countries are strengthening tobacco taxation, smoke-free policies and enforcement.

We are seeing similar action on alcohol.

Taxation work in Cook Islands and Kiribati.

Restrictions on alcohol promotion in Cambodia.

And policy progress in Lao PDR.

Taken together, these efforts demonstrate a broader shift in how we think about health.

The entry point may be a classroom, a community, a food label or a national policy.

But the principle remains the same.

We do not wait for people to become patients.

We build health into the places they live, learn, work and grow.

Strand 5: technology and innovation for future health equity

Our final strand – data, digital health and innovation may well define the next decade.

The question is simple: Will technology narrow the gaps between countries, or widen them?

The long-standing challenge is fragmentation.

Too many health information systems still cannot communicate with one another.

And too many civil registration and vital statistics systems remain too weak to tell us reliably who is being born, who is dying and why.

Without this basic information, we cannot fully understand the health of our populations or make good policies.

Good data is not a luxury.

They are the foundation of sound policy and effective action.

Over the past year, we continued strengthening that foundation.

The second round of our SCORE health data assessment is now being implemented in 19 Member States.

They range from advanced economies to countries that are still building foundational capacity.

We believe that support should be matched to where countries actually are, not where a standardized template assumes they should be.

Electronic immunization registries have expanded to every province of Lao PDR, helping identify children who are under-vaccinated.

Targeted technical support, and a new regional mortality-tracking calculator reached Fiji, Lao PDR, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.

Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu finalized national digital health strategies, while Cambodia completed a comprehensive digital health investment blueprint.

We now stand at the beginning of another major transformation: artificial intelligence.

The question is no longer whether AI will affect health and health systems.

It is whether we will manage it responsibly and ensure that its benefits reach everyone.

AI has enormous potential, but it is developing faster than governance can keep pace.

Our work this year has therefore moved beyond asking what AI might do.

We are now asking how it can be used safely, equitably and responsibly.

A joint forum with the Asian Development Bank began translating principles into practical tools for governance and readiness.

Lao PDR hosted the first country-level ministerial dialogue, turning that agenda into action.

In Solomon Islands, health workers are piloting an AI-enabled tool.

It converts photographs of paper-based forms into digital data.

For an already stretched workforce, an intervention like this can deliver an outsized return.

WHO is also developing an “AI companion” concept to support frontline health workers with clinical decision making, digital records and teleconsultation.

As the saying goes, “learning is constant.”

Or more simply, we are never too old to learn.

Our revitalized Global Health Learning Centre engaged mid-career health officials from 13 Member States through 172 sessions in 2025.

The Pacific Open Learning Health Net, POLHN, has been relaunched through the WHO Academy platform.

It has been rebuilt around the needs of 21 Pacific island countries and areas.

This work matters in a Region that extends from some of the world’s largest cities, to some of its smallest and most remote islands.

Technology can widen health inequities, or it can become a powerful tool to close them.

The choice we make will shape the future of health in our Region.

Conclusion

Chair, distinguished delegates, I began by asking you to hold a few contrasts in mind.

Old and new challenges, old and new opportunities, old and new ways of working. 

This year's report shows a Region determined to finish the unfinished business of today while confidently preparing for the challenges of tomorrow.

Excellencies, a strong and lasting mat is never woven from one perfect strand.

Its strength comes from many strands, woven together with care, purpose and commitment.

Our task is not simply to build stronger health systems.

It is to build a Region, where every country and every community is stronger because we stand together.

A Region where primary health care protects people before they become sick.

Where health facilities can withstand the next storm.

Where communities are prepared before the next outbreak begins.

Where every child has the opportunity to grow up healthy, and every older person can age with dignity.

And where innovation and technology bring us closer together, rather than leaving some people behind.

The work ahead will not be easy.

We all know that.

But when I look across our Western Pacific Region, I see something that gives me great confidence.

We have the strength, experience and ingenuity of all our countries and areas.

No country has all the answers. Neither does WHO.

But every one of us has something to contribute, something to teach, and something to learn.

That is the spirit of Weaving Health for All.

So, as we gather here in Manila, the home of our Regional Office for decades, let us strengthen that weave.

Let us close the gaps.

Let us scale up what works.

Let us protect the gains we have fought so hard to achieve.

And when one country faces difficulty, let the collective strength of our Region help carry it forward.

Because ultimately, the decisions we make today are not only for us.

They are for our children and grandchildren, and for generations we may never meet.

There is a saying in Tonga: “Oku tau tauhi ʻa e fonua, maʻá e toʻu tangata ʻoku hoko mai” – we care for the land for the generations to come.

For me, this is what leadership and stewardship are about.

We do not inherit health systems simply to manage them for today.

We have a responsibility to leave them stronger for those who come after us.

This is our shared responsibility across the Western Pacific.

And it is a responsibility that together we can fulfil.