Shigeru Omi
Shigeru Omi
Shigeru Omiis the current Regional Director of the Western Pacific Regional Office for the World Health Organization. He was born in Tokyo in 1949 and currently lives in Manila...
achievement countries country excellent follow government hard high hopeful lead major mark pacific progress region results several shown soon towards western work
These excellent results mark a major achievement by a country that used to have a high incidence of neonatal tetanus. All countries in the WHO Western Pacific Region have made progress towards neonatal tetanus elimination. Viet Nam has shown that government commitment, hard work and partnerships lead to results. We are hopeful that several other countries in the region will soon follow Viet Nam's example.
diversity evidence expansion hard indicate nature risk spite virus
In spite of this geographical expansion and diversity in the nature of the virus, when it comes to the risk of transmission, we don't have any hard evidence to indicate that the virus has become more infectious.
among bird cannot chickens ducks flu humans mingle prevent spreading sure
We cannot kill all the chickens and ducks to prevent bird flu from spreading among them and to humans; therefore, we have to make sure the chickens, ducks and humans do not mingle together.
clear commitment convention government habit ingrained smoking
We know that implementing the convention will not be easy, as smoking is an ingrained habit in China, but the government has made clear its commitment to take action.
cases compare four happened health needs public sars serious situation taiwan year
This situation is not yet a serious public health threat, but if you compare this one with the two laboratory-acquired cases in Taiwan and Singapore, and also if you compare this one with the four SARS cases (in Guangdong, China) which happened during the first part of this year ... the situation needs more attention,
control next
Even if you control avian flu, the next one is coming,
based calendar cases number past
Based upon past experience, approaching the Lunar calendar New Year, the number of cases will increase. That is our observation.
alert among based diminish epidemic means poultry seriously
Based our experience, the epidemic among poultry may temporarily diminish and then seriously return, which means we should keep alert and well prepared.
china good
China has done a very, very good job.
exposed people
many people have been exposed or potentially exposed.
affecting among chickens crucial time
Surveillance is crucial because, in my view, the outbreaks affecting transmission among chickens were there for some time without being noticed.
bring countries european possible
It is possible that European countries can bring this under control,
asian chance contain europe excellent
There is an excellent chance for Europe to contain the Asian flu.
similar
I think it is similar to tsunamis and earthquakes...we do not know when,