Brazzaville, 28 August 2013 -- Health Ministers from the 47 countries in the WHO African Region will gather in Brazzaville, Congo, from 2 to 6 September 2013, to discuss a range of major health issues aimed at improving the health of people.

The five-day meeting of the WHO Regional Committee, will also be attended by senior WHO officials including WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan; WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Luis Sambo, and Representatives of UN Agencies, Funds and Programmes. Civil society, bilateral, multilateral organizations and other development partners are also expected to attend.

This year’s session under the theme ‘Investing in health for sustainable development’ will discuss the  health of the elderly; the use of eHealth solutions to improve national health systems; strengthening the capacity of national medicines regulatory authorities, and the implementation of  WHO’s new guidelines on the use of antiretroviral therapy for HIV prevention and treatment.

The Ministers will discuss a report on the work of WHO in the Region during the 2012-2013 biennium, to be presented by the Regional Director, Dr Luis Sambo. The report will provide a comprehensive review, highlighting successes achieved and challenges faced in the pursuit of the Organization’s mandate of helping to improve the health situation in Member States.

The report of The Commission on Women's Health in the African Region which was prepared by a High –Level Commission chaired by H.E. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of the Republic of Liberia will also be discussed.

High on the agenda of the meeting are a regional strategy aimed at getting rid of neglected tropical diseases in the African Region by 2020, and an updated regional traditional medicine strategy which seeks to carve out a greater role for traditional medicine– the primary source of health care for the majority of people in the African Region. Progress made by countries in protecting people from the effects of tobacco use and  the implementation of the region’s 2009 – 2013 immunization strategic plan are also slated for discussion.

The Ministers will also devote sessions to WHO’s Programme Budget for 2014-2015,  ongoing reforms at WHO and proposed changes to the rules and procedures of the Regional Committee and the terms of reference of the Programme Subcommittee, a subsidiary body of the Regional Committee.

One parallel session on universal health coverage in the African Region is planned during the meeting while three side events will feature discussions on networking of public health research institutions,   the management of cancers as well as  an update from the  Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization.

South Sudan, the 47th member of the Regional Committee, will be participating in the meeting which is expected to attract more than 400 participants.

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For more information, please contact: cam [at] who.int (cam[at]who[dot]int)  tel: +47 241 39378