World Health Risk Management Seminar
Launch of Inter-university Seminar, 15th July 2005
A new series of seminars and lectures on various aspects of risk, with links bysatellite in Tokyo, Bangkok and London, was successfully launched on July 15th 2005.
Professor Ryoji Sakai, Chair of the URMPM, whose brainchild this series is,introduced the programme, noting that using a satellite system, courtesy of the World
Bank, allowed for greater networking and inter-activity, which allowed the seminarseries to develop the debates around various aspects of risk.
Mitsuko Hoiuchi, Director, ILO office, Tokyo, noted that we live in a globalised butunequal world. We need security, but we also need empowerment. In this context,health is very important. She explained how her organisation, the International
Labour Organisation (ILO), works. In the context of natural disasters, economiccollapse, health problems such as HIV/AIDS or industrial accidents, there is a needfor early warning systems, rehabilitation, and crisis management. These should all bepeople-centred and available to all. Thus the ILO is essentially a rights-basedorganisation. She asked who gets the benefit of globalisation and whether it isshared equally.
Y. Kamamura, Head, OECD Tokyo Centre, began by noting that the topic of theseminar was very timely and how pleased he was that it was taking place. He offeredcondolences to London citizens for the recent bomb attacks. He noted that the natureof large-scale risks was changing, with the recent tsunami, new diseases, as well as
terrorist attacks, and society has to find a new capacity to manage them. While theimpact of such risks is unknown, we have to be ready to face them. He explained that
the OECD has been engaged in the study of system risk since 2000 and that in 2003,
they issued a book which addressed both academics and governments of members
states regarding the challenges involved. He noted that there are four driving forces
behind globalisation: demography, environment, technology, and socio-economicdevelopment. Globalisation has had differing results for different people – some havebenefited but others have lost their jobs. From the perspective of his organisation, thebenefits outweigh the costs, but there remains a need to share the benefits moreequally.
Pat Caplan (Goldsmiths College, University of London) distinguished between risk
management and risk perception. It is particularly the latter in which social scientists
are interested, looking at lay views of risk in their social context. Her own work has
been on ideas about food and risk, and the perceived links between food and health.
She went on to talk about the recent terrorist bombs on the tubes and bus, notingthat while security is very important, such attacks need to be seen in the context of aseries of political confrontations taking place mainly in the Middle East between
Muslims and the West. But risk is seen to permeate our everyday lives and it is thejob of social scientists to understand how people make sense of this.
Som-arch Wangkhomthong (Vice-President of Bangkok Hospital, Bangkok) drew a
distinction between natural disasters such as tsunami and those caused by humans
such as the recent political disturbances in Thailand. He stated that we need to sharewith Japan which has lots of experience in disaster management e.g. the Kobe
earthquake, similarly to learn from the recent London crisis how to manage thecurrent crisis in southern Thailand. It is clear that we must constantly be prepared. At
the same time, it is vital that we respect the wisdom of local communities.

Chalermchai Chaikittiporn (Dean, Faculty of Public Health, Mahidol University,Bangkok) talked about the importance of prevention in risk issues. He noted thesignificance of crisis management teams, and stressed how important it is to include
traditional wisdom in knowledge management.
Following the opening speeches, there was a lively and wide-ranging discussion
between the participants, all of whom agreed that this had been a most beneficial
exercise.
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