The global financial and economic crisis may have adverse effects on public health, and countries need to take measures to avoid such a result, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday.

"Countries at all levels of economic development are concerned about the impact of the financial crisis on health," said WHO Director-General Margaret Chan.

"Officials are worried that health in their own countries may worsen as unemployment rises, safety nets for social protection fail, savings and pension funds erode, and spending on health drops," Chan told a WHO meeting on the topic.

"Officials are also worried that present levels of financing for international health development may not be maintained," she said.

According to Chan, those concerns are fully justified.

She added that the financial crisis came at a fragile time for public health.

"We are in the midst of the most ambitious drive in history to tackle the root causes of poverty and reduce the gaps in health outcomes. No one wants this momentum to stall," she said.

The WHO chief urged countries to "seize every opportunity to protect populations and pre-empt adverse effects on health."

"Ministries of health and foreign affairs need a set of compelling arguments for persuading other ministries to protect funding for health, nationally and internationally," she said.

"In the past, we have seen the social sectors robbed in times of economic downturn, with dire long-term consequences," she warned.

(Xinhua News Agency January 20, 2009)