Brazzaville, 8 April 2015 – The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti has called on the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Republic of Congo to advocate with their national governments to strengthen health systems to be able to address the health challenges facing the African Region.
She briefed the diplomats about the on-going Ebola epidemic in West Africa, current and emerging health threats in the WHO African Region, progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and the strategic priorities for WHO’s work in the Region for 2015-2020.

The Regional Director underscored the importance of strong national health systems to be able to withstand epidemics and emergencies while delivering essential health services to people who need them most.

Dr Moeti pointed out that the Ebola epidemic has had devastating impacts on families, livelihoods, security, health workforce, service delivery and overall socioeconomic development of the severely affected countries. Finishing the epidemic and strengthening capacity to support health security, preparedness and response to epidemics and emergencies is the first priority of the WHO Regional Office for Africa.

Referring to some of the lessons learnt so far from the Ebola outbreak, Dr Moeti said: “Early warning systems and community-based surveillance is essential for early detection, notification and timely response.” She placed emphasis on community dialogue, equitable access of communities to health infrastructures and the commitments of international stakeholders as key in controlling major public health events.

“A public health event of international concern in any part of the world can spread rapidly therefore, an improved global mechanism for quick response to major epidemics through an effective global coordination system is critical”.

The Regional Director told the diplomats that 2015 is a significant year with the fruition of the MDGs and the finalization of the post-2015 development agenda, also known as the Sustainable Development Goals. Although significant progress has been made in the past decade towards attainment of the MDGs, a lot more needs to be done to strengthen health systems to further reduce the incidence of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and maternal and child deaths, as well as other emerging threats such as noncommunicable diseases.

In closing, Dr Moeti outlined her vision to make better health a reality in the WHO African Region. Her vision focused on five key priority areas that include: Improving health security by tackling epidemic prone diseases, emergencies and new health threats; driving progress towards equity and universal health coverage; pursuing the post-2015 development agenda while ensuring the MDGs are completed; tackling the social and economic determinants of health; and building a responsive and results-driven WHO Secretariat.

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