Brazzaville, 12 April 2007 -- WHO Director-General, Dr Margaret Chan, held discussions Thursday in Brazzaville with Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso on health challenges facing Africa, and the need to take urgent action to ease the heavy and growing disease burden in the region.

Both agreed on the centrality of health in development; the urgent need to curb old and re-emerging communicable diseases; the new and growing threat of noncommunicable diseases; the need to promote the role of women in Africa in the development process, and the necessity to strive even harder to achieve improvements set out in the Millennium Development Goals ( MDGs).

President Sassou- Nguesso and Dr Chan also discussed the role of the WHO Regional Office for Africa which returned to its Brazzaville headquarters on 30 December 2006, nine years after it had been forced to relocate to Harare, Zimbabwe, following a civil war in the Republic of Congo. The President pledged to improve the physical infrastructure in and around the WHO premises in order to improve the working and living conditions of more than 200 staff resident in the international territory of Djoue, where the Regional Office is located.

Basically similar issues were discussed and consensus on mutual support was reached at a meeting between between Dr Chan and the Congolese Prime Minister, Mr. Isidore Mvouba, after Dr Chan had paid a visit to the WHO country office in Congo.

Addressing the 22- member strong WHO county team after after a welcome address by the WHO Representative for Congo, Dr Fatoumata Nafo-Traore, Dr Chan said: “You the staff, are the most valuable asset of WHO. I would like you to accept my assurance that we in Geneva , and the Regional Office based in this city will continue to support you to improve the health of the people of this country..”

Dr challenged the staff to check the reported outbreak of cholera reported in parts of the country saying, ‘Commitment, sacrifice and dedication are the hallmarks of public health workers everywhere around the world. You are not alone. Please keep up the good work.

For more information contact:

Samuel T. Ajibola

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Email : ajibolas [at] afro.who.int (ajibolas[at]afro[dot]who[dot]int)