Thursday, August 6, 2009

ECOSOC (Economic and Social Council)







To view the high resolution images,  click on the images above

Represented in the above FDCs':

Water and sanitation
Water is essential for life. The amount of fresh water on earth is limited, and its quality is under constant pressure. Preserving the quality of fresh water is important for drinking-water supply, food production and recreational water use. Water quality can be compromised by the presence of infectious agents, toxic chemicals and radiological hazards. Inadequate sanitation is a major cause of disease worldwide, and improving sanitation is known to have a significant beneficial impact on health both in households and across communities. The word "sanitation" also refers to the maintenance of hygienic conditions, through such services as garbage collection and wastewater disposal. Domestic hygiene, access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation facilities are crucial to enhanced global public health.

Traditional medicines
Traditional medicine is the sum total of the knowledge, skills and practices based on the theories, beliefs and experiences indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or not, used in the maintenance of health as well as in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and mental illness. Many countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America use traditional medicines to help meet some of their primary health-care needs.

Improve maternal health
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), every year over 500,000 women die from difficulties during pregnancy and childbirth or in the six weeks after delivery. Every year over 1 million newborns die within their first 24 hours of life for lack of quality care. Maternal mortality is one of the largest health inequities in the world, with 99 per cent of maternal deaths occurring in developing countries-half of them in Africa.

Access to essential medicines
Essential medicines are those that satisfy the priority health-care needs of the population. They are selected with due regard to public-health relevance, evidence on efficacy and safety, and comparative cost-effectiveness. Essential medicines are intended to be available within the context of functioning health systems at all times in adequate amounts, in the appropriate dosage forms, with assured quality and adequate information, and at a price the individual and the community can afford. The implementation of the concept of essential medicines is intended to be flexible and adaptable to many different situations; exactly which medicines are regarded as essential remains a national responsibility.

Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
Every day, nearly 7,500 people become infected with HIV and 5,500 die from AIDS, mostly due to a lack of HIV prevention and treatment services. Malaria, together with HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, is one of the major public-health challenges undermining development in the poorest countries in the world. Malaria kills an African child every 30 seconds. Many children who survive an episode of severe malaria may suffer from learning impairments or brain damage. Pregnant women and their unborn children are also particularly vulnerable to malaria, which is a major cause of prenatal mortality, low birth weight and maternal anaemia.

Reduce child mortality
Every year, nearly 11 million children die before their fifth birthday. Of these deaths, 99 per cent are in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, and even within poor countries it is the poorest who suffer the most. A limited number of health conditions are responsible for three quarters of all child deaths. Malnutrition is the single most important underlying cause of child mortality; it is associated with 54 per cent of all child deaths. The establishment of strong national immunization services in many countries over recent years has ensured that today over 70 per cent of the world's targeted population is reached with immunization.

Date of Issue: August 6, 2009

Denominations:
44¢, 98¢, F.s. 0,85, F.s. 1,80, € 0,55 Single, € 0,65

Printing:
Printed in offset by Sweden Post

Stamp specifications
Format: 50 mm horizontally by 35 mm vertically, perforation to perforation.

Perforation: 12.8

The Designer
The stamps were illustrated by Rorie Katz (United Nations).

On 6 August 2009, the United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA) issued a set of six commemorative stamps on the theme "ECOSOC" (Economic and Social Council).

The Economic and Social Council was established under the Charter of the United Nations as the principal organization to coordinate the economic, social and related work of the 14 UN specialized agencies, the nine functional commissions and the five regional commissions. The Council also receives reports from 11 United Nations funds and programmes. ECOSOC serves as the central forum for discussing international economic and social issues, and for formulating policy recommendations addressed to Member States and the United Nations system. It is responsible for:

• Promoting higher standards of living, full employment, and economic and social progress;
• Identifying solutions to international economic, social and health problems;
• Facilitating international cultural and educational cooperation;
• Encouraging universal respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.

At the World Summit in 2005, Heads of State and Government mandated the Economic and Social Council to hold an Annual Ministerial Review (AMR), a new vehicle for meeting the Millennium Development Goals by the 2015 target date. The theme of the AMR for 2009 is "Implementing the internationally agreed goals and commitments in regard to global public health". This theme, which is of vital importance to the international community, will bring together world leaders to try to find appropriate ways to strengthen health systems to serve all, especially the poorest and most vulnerable worldwide.

Against this background, and as part of the ECOSOC's campaign to spur action towards achieving the internationally agreed Millennium Development Goals, the United Nations Postal Administration in collaboration with the ECOSOC secretariat, decided to issue six stamps adopting the AMR 2009 theme.




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