Canadian Red Cross Secretary General delivers keynote address at global health forum

On May 11, 2005, Dr. Pierre Duplessis, Canadian Red Cross Secretary General gave a keynote address to mark the beginning of a three-day global health forum in Geneva, Switzerland hosted by the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (International Federation).

Dr. Duplessis joined leaders from dozens of other Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies at the event which aimed to encourage decision-makers to give civil society a greater role in combating the world’s major health challenges.

During his speech he touched upon the disparity in how disasters impact different parts of the world.  Dr. Duplessis emphasized that studies have shown death rates to be far higher in poor countries than wealth nations, even if the incidence and intensity of disasters are the same.

“The real killer in the world is poverty, not the forces of nature,” remarked Dr. Duplessis. “Only 11 per cent of people exposed to natural hazards live in poor countries, yet they account for more than 53 per cent of the total number of recorded deaths.”

He highlighted the important issues and facts to consider as National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies adopt role and approaches to respond to public health needs related to disasters and emergencies. “Diseases and pandemics such as HIV/AIDS and malaria need to be viewed as disasters in their own right and receive proportional responses.”           

“The retreat of many governments from public health provision, combined with increasing urbanization, climate change, environmental degradation and conflicts and internal strife are opening the door for new disasters and public health challenges.”

Throughout his speech, Dr. Duplessis stressed the importance of partnerships, integrated health programming, the development of strong volunteer networks and the unique advantage of the Red Cross/Red Crescent.

“We are involved at the local level inside communities in our countries and perhaps more than most other organizations we have the capacity to go the “last mile””, added Dr. Duplessis. “It is often through the national networks of volunteers that we are able to reach the most vulnerable and extend our services to most isolated communities not accessed by local authorities.”   

He addressed the need for community-based health programming. “We need to ensure that our programs apply cooperative community-based planning that includes the affected populations as actors and not just as victims,” added Dr Duplessis.  “This not only increases the capacity of relief and recovery efforts, but helps develop sustainable programming with ownership in the affected community.”     

Recent devastating disasters have shown that psycho-social support is one of the most crucially needed programs.” Psycho-social support needs to be an integrated component of different areas of programming during and after disasters and crises.   

“Our psycho-social response also needs to be founded on local human resources, building capacity, enhancing resilience, networking, advocacy, and coordination with other actors with the goal of addressing the psychological well-being of people in a sensitive and culturally appropriate way.”   

The Canadian Red Cross recently launched a major psycho-social program to help the survivors of the tsunami in Sri Lanka.

While often regarded as a being primarily a disaster response organization, 70 per cent of all Red Cross Red Crescent activities worldwide are in the health field. Health programs account for the largest segment – about 40 per cent - of the International Federation’s annual appeal budget. The Canadian Red Cross also focuses on community-based health programs in several countries including Honduras, Nicaragua and Togo.

Many success stories were highlighted at the forum, from the crucial involvement of Red Cross volunteers in a groundbreaking integrated health campaign managed in part by the Canadian Red Cross in Togo which protected children against measles, polio and malaria, to the response of community-based volunteers in Sri Lanka and Indonesia during the recent tsunami.

Posted May 18, 2005