Contrastive images from The Philippines

I enjoyed my second visit to the Philippines. Unfortunately I did not have much time to explore due to the typhoon and my schedule. Here are some contrastive photos.

Interventions presented at the World Health Organization Regional Commmittee Meeting for the Western Pacific

During the World Health Organization Regional Commmittee Meeting for the Western Pacific I presented two interventions on behalf of the International Association of Communication Sciences and Disorders (IALP) relating to:

• Agenda item 11 - Oral Health
  
• Agenda item 13 - Digital Health 
  
  

I thank Fiona Given, Meredith Allan, Shaun McCarthy and Bronwyn Hemsley for their insightful paper that I quoted in the intervention discussing digital health.

Given, F., Allan, M., McCarthy, S., & Hemsley, B. (2023). Digital health autonomy for people with communication or swallowing disability and the Sustainable Development Goal 10 of reducing inequalities and Goal 3 of good health and well-being. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25(1), 72-76. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2022.2092212

Prof Sharynne McLeod reading the intervention regarding people with communication disability at the WHO meeting in Manila, Philippines (from the perspective of the Chairperson)

 

I was honoured to read the intervention on Digital Health on the morning of Thursday 24th October. Here is the #RCM75 YouTube channel for Day 4 with my  IALP intervention (53:00 – 57:00): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvgPIaZKlo0

Seventy-fifth session of the World Health Organization Regional Committee for the Western Pacific

This week (21 to 25 October 2024) I am honoured to represent the International Association of Communication Sciences and Disorders (IALP) at the Seventy-fifth session of the World Health Organization Regional Committee for the Western Pacific (RCM75) in Manila, the Philippines. 

Dr Ferdiliza Garcia (IALP, Philippines), Honourable Vainetutai Rose Toki-Brown (Chairperson, Cook Islands) Dr Saia Ma’u Piukala (WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific, Tonga), Distinguished Professor Sharynne McLeod (IALP, CSU, Australia)

I was invited to present an intervention addressing communication disability. Here is the #RCM75 YouTube channel for Day 4 with my  IALP intervention (53:00 – 57:00): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvgPIaZKlo0

Distinguished Professor Sharynne McLeod presenting an intervention at WHO RCM75 in Manila

My colleague, Dr Ferdiliza Garcia from the University of the Philippines is also representing IALP and we have been promoting the right to communicate and the work of IALP in WHO's goal of "reaching the unreached" sharing IALP's book "The Unserved – Addressing the needs of those with communication disorders".

Prof Sharynne McLeod and Dr Ferdzila Garcia representing the International Association of Communication Sciences and Disorders (IALP) at the Seventy-fifth session of the World Health Organization Regional Committee for the Western Pacific (RCM75) in Manila, the Philippines

"Weaving Health for Families, Communities and Societies in the Western Pacific Region (2025−2029): Working together to improve health and well-being and save lives" is the vision presented by the first-ever WHO Regional Director from the Pacific - Dr Saia Ma’u Piukala.

"Our societies need to be better organized to support health systems that are inclusive and respectful of diversity – regardless of disability, race, ethnicity or gender – in order to combat inequity."

During Monday's discussion Dr Saia exhorted everyone: “We must do this work with our hearts – not just our minds”

The 2024 theme is "Weaving Health for All"

• WHO documents: https://www.who.int/westernpacific/about/governance/regional-committee/session-75/documents
• Live statements will be published at https://rcm.wpro.who.int/NSAstatements

The Regional Director's dinner was a celebration of cultures and accomplishments over the past year.

Catching up with Pauline McNeil, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Medical Services, Solomon Islands at the Regional Director's Dinner (my PhD student Holly McAlister will visit Pauline and the Solomon Islands later this years as part of her PhD)

The Regional Committee sang "Stand by me"

WHO Western Pacific has implemented a zero alcohol policy
- so the conference dinner has coconuts

IALP representative from The Philippines to 7th session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Western Pacific

Today I met with Dr Ferdiliza Garcia, who was also a representative of the International Association of Communication Sciences and Disorders (IALP) at the seventy-fourth session of the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Committee for the Western Pacific (#RCM74), https://www.who.int/westernpacific/about/governance/regional-committee/session-74. She was able to attend on Monday, and I attended on Tuesday - Friday. We were able to share our experiences, our passiion for advocacy and supporting people with communication disability, and she may be able to co-author a chapter in one of my new books.

Philippines

This is my first visit to the Philippines, although I have visited virtually a number of times. It is wonderful to be here learning from the Filipino people and seeing this beautiful country. Salamat.

Manila skyline and parks

Manila sunset

Kulintang: a traditional Filipino instrument typically with eight bronze gongs

Manila traffic

University students' results on posters

San Augustin

Pasig River

Fort Santiago

World Health Organization Western Pacific Office

I am visiting the WHO Western Pacific Office in Manila, Philippines this week. https://www.who.int/westernpacific. Here are some photos of this important location.

Each day during the week-long Regional Committee Meeting there was a Movement Break, where everyone followed the dance moves of the WPRO dance team!

Daily dance moves at WHO's WPRO (Western Pacific Regional Office) in Manila

Dinner at the 74th session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Western Pacific in Manila, Philippines

Attending the 74th session of the World Health Organization Regional Committee for the Western Pacific (#RCM74) in Manila, Philippines has been such a fantastic time of learning, networking and fun https://www.who.int/westernpacific/about/governance/regional-committee/session-74.

There was a focus on celebrating the health workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic during the dinner.

WHO Dinner at The Manila Hotel

Meeting Mr Blaire Exell, Deputy Secretary
Health Strategy, First Nations and Sport, Australian Government

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (WHO Director-General)

The Scrub Choir (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jR-JXFbHMPU)
One of the many items during the WHO Dinner

Dr Zsuzsanna Jakab (Acting Regional Director) with Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (WHO Director-General)

IALP representative at the 74th session of the World Health Organization Regional Committee for the Western Pacific

I am honoured to represent the International Association of Communication Sciences and Disorders (IALP) at the seventy-fourth session of the World Health Organization Regional Committee for the Western Pacific (#RCM74), 16 to 20 October 2023 in Manila, Philippines https://www.who.int/westernpacific/about/governance/regional-committee/session-74. 

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the World Health Organization. "The Regional Committee for the Western Pacific is home to over 1.9 billon people acrosss 37 countries and areas. The Region includes some of the world's largest and smallest countries - China with more than 1.4 billon people and Niue with fewer than 2000 - some with young populations and others that are ageing rapidly. The region is extremely diverse and includes countries at different stages of development with different health system capacities" (WHO, 2019).

RCM74 agenda items include: 

• 10. Investing in health and universal health coverage
• 11. Health security 
• 12. Health innovation 
• 13. Communication for health 
• 14. Health workforce 
• 15. Progress reports on technical programmes 
• 15.1 Thematic priority: Health security, including COVID-19 and antimicrobial resistance 
• 15.2 Thematic priority: Noncommunicable diseases and ageing 
• 15.3 Thematic priority: Climate change, the environment and health 
• 15.4 Thematic priority: Reaching the unreached 
• 15.5 Cross-cutting progress report: Advancing the For the Future vision 

Here is the #RCM74 YouTube channel with videos of the proceedings: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA7dYQkD0Btrdj8ajTfUJYJ3xW0vrqWD1

 I have submitted two interventions on behalf of IALP addressing:

• 13. Communiation for Health (C4H): https://www.who.int/westernpacific/news-room/multimedia/overview/item/communicating-for-health-impact#
• 14. Shaping a health workforce for the future
  

In my interventions on behalf of the IALP, I commend the WHO Regional Committee for the Western Pacific for the C4H initiative and the Disability-inclusive health services toolkit: A resource for health facilities in the Western Pacific Region https://www.who.int/westernpacific/publications-detail/9789290618928. I commended WHO for including communication disability, "People Who Have Trouble Speaking" (p. 67) AND "People With Hearing Impairment" (p. 64) in the section on "Practical strategies for communicating inclusive health information" and also offered recommendations for expanding understanding about communication disability and strategies for communicating inclusive health information based on the following work we have undertaken:The interventions profile the work published in our two special issues of the International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology addressing the United Nations' agendas: 

• Communication is a Human Right – 2018 - vol 20(1) - https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/iasl20/20/1
• Communication, Swallowing and the Sustainable Development Goals – 2023 vol 25(1) - https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/iasl20/25/1 

I am also profiling the new book published by IALP, in which many of our team are authors: 

• Levey, S. & Enderby, P. (Eds.). (2023). The unserved: Addressing the needs of those with communication disorders. J&R Press. https://ialpasoc.info/publication/

Dr Ferdiliza Garcia is also representing IALP from the Philippines and I look forward to meeting with her.

Congratulations to Dr Saia Ma’u Piukala, proposed by Tonga, who has been nominated as the next @WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific for the next 5 years.

 I met Dr Saia Ma’u Piukala, the new WHO Regional Director and discussed Tonga and the role of speech-language pathologists throughout the Western Pacific

Keynote address to the Philippine Association of Speech Pathologists

Today I presented a keynote address to the Philippine Association of Speech Pathologists Virtual Convention titled: "EBP Approaches to Assessment and Intervention of Children’s Speech". There were over 330 attendees at the convention.

Here is the abstract: 

Speech pathologists frequently provide assessment and intervention for children with speech sound disorders (SSD) and need to draw on four types of evidence when working with these children and their families: (1) Research evidence (2) Clinical expertise of the speech pathologist (3) Client preferences, values, and circumstances (4) Practice context relating to the setting and client (Hoffman et al., 2013). This presentation will provide recent evidence about children’s speech acquisition, assessment, and intervention regarding children who speak English, as well as many other languages. Free evidence-based resources created by researchers from across the world in over 60 languages will be described https://www.csu.edu.au/research/multilingual-speech

Preparing for my keynote address to the Philippine Association of Speech Pathologists’ Virtual Convention

Today I had an informative meeting with the organising committee of the Philippine Association of Speech Pathologists’ Virtual Convention in order to prepare for my address. I met with Susie Pascual (President), Mike Valdez (Vice President) and Ken Dizon (Conference Chair).

I am looking forward to the opportunity to speaking to the PASP members on 24th July as they celebrate their 30th anniversary at their third convention.

Here is the link to information about the Virtual Convention: http://www.pasp.org.ph/event-4213305