Honourable Ministers,
Distinguished delegates,
Ladies and gentlemen,
First of all I would like to thank the African Union and the commission for giving me an opportunity to say a few opening words for this very important meeting. This underscores the strong working relationship between WHO and the African Union Commission.
Secondly I would like to congratulate the African Union Commission for completing initial processes in the establishment of the Africa CDC, following the commitment made at the first meeting of health ministers jointly organized by the African Union Commission and WHO in Luanda, in April 2014.
Together, we have a tremendous opportunity to transform the future of Africa, to strengthen health and economic security, and to deliver on the goals for a new era of sustainable development.
No country is immune to outbreaks and crises; this is most notably seen in the ongoing Ebola epidemic in West Africa but also in other countries throughout the African Region that continue to be affected by recurring epidemics and major public health events.
From January to April 2015, 54 Public Health Events have been reported in the African Region, 47 of them are of infectious origin including 14 cholera outbreaks.
As we know, these epidemics and public health events have significant impacts on health and economic developments throughout the Region. Strengthening health security and emergencies will not only reduce morbidity, disability and mortality but also reduce the social and economic impacts resulting from these events.
When I was appointed, one of the first concrete actions that I implemented was a new Health Security and Emergencies Cluster (HSE) at the WHO Regional Office for Africa to address these challenges.
The main goal of this cluster is to reduce the health consequences of public health emergencies, natural disasters, conflicts and minimize social and economic impact in the African Region. To achieve this goal, WHO is committed to:
i) Provide leadership and guidance when major infectious disease outbreaks and other health security emergencies occur;
ii) Strengthen national and regional capacities to be prepared, to prevent, to detect and to respond to health security risks and emergencies; and
iii) Strengthen national and regional capacities to respond to outbreaks and emergencies, and facilitate recovery capabilities.
The International Health Regulations (IHR 2005), which I will be taking about during my presentation constitutes the most important international framework for strengthening global health security, including the development of health systems and other capacities. Optimizing the IHR and its implementation is a critical step for reducing the impact of emerging, re-emerging and other public health emergencies of international concern.
On this note, I would like to emphasise that WHO will continue to provide technical expertise to implement IHR in the framework of the African CDC.
Since this initiative is planning to strengthen the Event Based Surveillance as well as to build capacity to respond to public health emergencies of the continent, among other activities, WHO will also provide technical expertise and assistance using existing norms, standards and tools and other innovative mechanisms to ensure success.
To implement the Event Based Surveillance, the African CDC can benefit from the existing Strategic Health Operations Centre (SHOC) at WHO/AFRO. The AFRO SHOC serves as a central place for coordination of responses to all public health events that occur in the Region. It facilitates communication to the field, provides availability of real time data and information for action, and enhances collaboration with Member States and partners while avoiding duplications of efforts.
WHO, AUC and the future African CDC should work out further collaborative mechanisms through a memorandum of understanding to ensure necessary synergies and the key ongoing role of WHO/AFRO.
As I’ve highlighted, together, we have a tremendous opportunity to transform the future of Africa and WHO is committed to work in close collaboration with the AUC and the African CDC to make this a reality.
Honourable ministers and delegates,
I wish you a successful meeting