The Honorable Minister for Health, Major (Rtd) Courage Quashigah has commended the World Health Organization for being outstanding in its role as the technical advisor to member countries on health and in keeping down the trend of major childhood killer diseases. He said the Organization has been very instrumental in the development of vaccines and drugs to combat diseases that afflict people of all ages.

The Honorable Minister said this when he performed the official launch of the 2008 World Health Day and the 60th Anniversary of WHO at the Kofi Annan ICT Centre of Excellence in Accra on 7 April 2008. The Minister said WHO has been articulate at leading countries to develop their health systems and health infrastructure. What remains is the transformation of individual's behaviours and attitudes to make the choice for health rather than for ill-health. The Minister further said at 60 years, one can confidently say WHO is matured and use past experiences to direct the course of global health

Addressing a large crowd of traditional leaders, Ministers of State, Heads of UN Agencies, health personnel, the press and school children and a cross section of the general public,the Minister said the theme for World Health Day 2008 'protecting health from climate change' has come at an appropriate time because if climate change is not checked now, it could reverse all the developments mankind has achieved for many years. He therefore called on all Organizations to collaborate in developing strategies for combating the threat of climate change to global public health security. Major (Rtd) Quashigah also called on traditional authorities to protect the natural resources such as land, water bodies, forests etc from destruction.

Welcoming the audience to the national launch of the World Health Day and the WHO at 60 years function, the Deputy Director -General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr George Amofah, paid glowing tribute to the Organization for its contributions to the achievements of the country's health development and called for more concerted efforts to achieve the desired health status. Dr Amofah also expressed his appreciation for the theme chosen for the celebration, 'protecting health from climate change' and said much remains to be done to forestall the dangers of climate change on health.

The WHO Representative to Ghana, Dr Joaquim Saweka, on his part recounted some of the achievements of the Organization for past six decades and attributed the success to the support and collaboration from Governments and the people of member countries. He pledged the Organization's commitment to support the Government and people of Ghana to attain the desired health status.

Dr Saweka also praised the Government of Ghana for the excellent collaboration with the Organization since 1958 when Ghana joined the World Health Organization. He announced that a number of activities including a roundtable discussion on Primary Health Care, a photo and poster exhibition and an art competition for school children would be held in Ghana to celebrate World Health Day and 60 years of the founding of WHO.

Present at the launch were heads of UN Agencies, Queen mothers, a cross section of the public and school children. The Accra Psychiatric Hospital Choir provided background music to grace the occasion.

The Honorable Minister of Health Major (Rtd) Courage Quashigah and some queen mothers viewing the photo exhibition

The Minister later opened a photo and poster exhibition mounted by the WHO Country office to show case some of the historical events and best practices of the Organization in Ghana. Some of the photos exhibited included work in the area of Child and Maternal Health, Expanded Program on Immunization, HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Essential Drugs and Medicines, Non Communicable Disease Prevention and Control and Health Promotion.

The photo exhibition also aims at informing the general public about WHO's Programme of Work in Ghana as well as relevant information that can be obtained from the Organization's office.

The media both print and electronic took opportunity of the celebration to engage both the WHO Representative to Ghana Dr Joaquim Saweka and the Minister for Health Major Rtd Quashigah in a series of interviews for more information on the programme. The media later gave extensive coverage on the two events as well as follow up radio and television talk shows and interviews.

The press interview Dr Saweka, WHO Representative and Major (rtd) Quashigah

The public expressed appreciation for the photo exhibition on the achievements of the Organization. Some people expressed interest in WHO's work and took away copies of some of the documents exhibited.

The activities of the day ended with a small reception organized at the WHO Country Office for further interaction between close partners in health. It was attended by a cross section of the MOH/GHS senior staff, Ambassadors, Heads of UN Agencies, other Development Partners, the media and WCO Staff.