World Health Day 2006.

• Tenlastelegging: Worldwide news

Dr Lee Jong-wook, WHO Director-General, has urged wide engagement with the theme of World Health Day--Working together for Health. He said:

'[It] gives us all an opportunity to celebrate the remarkable contribution to human health and development made by health workers. If progress can be made in priority areas ... and public trust in health systems strengthened ..., then the potential gains to be made in human health and well-being are incalculable.

'All over the world, national health systems are finding it difficult to train, sustain and retain their health workers. In developed countries, as populations age and chronic conditions increase, there is an ever-growing demand for health workers. That need is increasingly being met by recruitment of trained workers from developing countries; a trend which exacerbates the resource shortfall there.

'Without a strong health workforce, advances in healthcare cannot reach and benefit the people who need them. ... global efforts to reach the Millennium Development Goals, and all efforts to address priority diseases are threatened by...