Brazzaville, 8 May 2013 -- The first meeting of the Monitoring Committee of the African Public Health Emergency Fund (APHEF) ended in Brazzaville on Wednesday after reviewing, refining and endorsing the manual which will guide the operations of the Fund (APHEF).

The two-day meeting, chaired by the Minister of Health of Gabon, Prof. Leon N’Zouba, was attended by the Representative of the Minister of Health of Nigeria, Prof. Abdulsalami Nasidi, the respective delegations of the two countries, the WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Luis Sambo, and other members of the APHEF Secretariat.

Speaking to reporters at the end of the meeting, Prof. N’Zouba, said: “We have so many emergencies in Africa and a structure like APHEF is indispensable to ensure rapid response”.  Like the Regional Director he also urged countries to pay their contributions to the Fund.

To date five countries have made contributions totaling $1.7 million to APHEF.

Commenting on the outcome of the meeting, Prof. Nasidi said: “We had a successful review of the APHEF operations manual and the refined document will help the Fund play its role to respond quickly to emergencies occurring in Member States with the inadequate resources to respond to public health emergencies”.

In his closing remarks, the Regional Director noted that “This meeting is in important step towards consolidating the structures of APHEF so that it can live up to the purpose for which it was created”.  He thanked the Chairperson for his excellent coordination of the meeting and expressed satisfaction with the involvement of Member States in working closely with the WHO Secretariat to guide the effective support for health matters in the region. 

The revised APHEF operations manual will be shared with other members of the monitoring committee for endorsement before its final adoption.
 
The establishment of APHEF was proposed in 2010 by Dr Sambo, and approved by the 60th session of the WHO Regional Committee for Africa which took place in the same year in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.

At its 61st session held in 2011 in Yamoussoukro, Cote d’Ivoire, the Regional Committee unanimously adopted a resolution which requested the Regional Director to accelerate the operationalization of the Fund. The Ministers also approved the governance structure for the Fund comprising the Monitoring Committee, the Technical Review Group (TRG) and the Fund’s Secretariat. 

The resolution adopted at the Yamoussoukro meeting also set the annual recommended contribution of member states to APHEF at a total of US$50 million and endorsed the designation of the African Development Bank as the trustee for the management of the Fund.

Political support at the highest level for APHEF came in July 2012 when African leaders endorsed its establishment at 19th Ordinary session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 

In November 2012, the 62nd session of the Regional Committee held in Luanda, Angola, agreed on the composition of the Monitoring Committee of the Fund.

Establishment of the African Public Health Emergency Fund (APHEF) – Report of the Regional Director

Framework document for the African Public Health Emergency Fund-with Resolution