- Mr. Chairman,
- The President of the African Development Bank Group,
- Honourable Ministers of Health of participating countries, The President,
- Senior Officials from Ministries of Health,
- Excellencies Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Representatives of International Cooperation Agencies,
- Distinguished representatives of development partners, including non-governmental development organizations (NGDOs) and representatives of pharmaceutical companies,
- Distinguished Guests,
- Dear Colleagues,
- Members of the Media,
- Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a great pleasure and distinct honour for me to welcome you all to the “Fifteenth Session of the Joint Action Forum”, which is the governing board of the World Health Organization African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control.
I wish first of all, to express our gratitude to the African Development Bank (ADB) under the wise leadership of Dr Donald Kaberuka, the President of the Bank Group, for the generous offer to host this session of the Joint Action Forum (JAF) in the beautiful city of Tunis. In our view, this gesture is a testimony to the Bank’s commitment and support to the work of WHO in Africa, in particular to the River Blindness Control activities.
It is my pleasure to extend a warm welcome to the honourable Ministers of Health representing Governments and people of APOC countries.
The role of WHO as APOC implementing agency is greatly facilitated by the long-term commitment of the APOC partners; and I welcome the Representatives of Partners to this forum.
I remember that Governments, communities and development partners made the success of OCP and are also making the accomplishment of APOC objectives possible!
It is my fervent hope that your participation in this meeting will be convivial, productive and open new avenues for greater health achievements in Africa.
This meeting takes place at a time when health systems in the Region are challenged by the effects of the global financial crisis, food crisis and climate change. In this context, Governments, communities and partners have to deal with a very high burden of disease, epidemics, pandemics and high maternal and infant mortality rates. It is not time to reduce the investment in health but rather boost the capacity of local health systems to cope with the effects of the referred challenges
Speaking about the Millennium Development Goals in the African Region, during the last 10 years, some progress has been made, towards the attainment of MDG 4 to reduce child mortality.
MDG 5, which addresses Maternal Mortality, remains the most dramatic public health indicator in Sub-Saharan Africa, with an average of 1000 maternal deaths by each 100,000 live births. You will agree with me, Excellencies, distinguished ladies and gentlemen that it is unacceptable that millions of mothers, newborns and children continue to die from preventable and treatable diseases, despite all the major breakthroughs in health sciences and technology.
HIV/AIDS, Malaria, Tuberculosis, Neglected Tropical Diseases and other infectious diseases coupled with increasing burden of non-communicable diseases, constitute major obstacles to human development in the African Region. There is some progress in HIV/AIDS and Malaria control. But still a lot remains to be done. While appreciating the efforts and progress made by Ministries of Health of Countries in the Africa Region, we must promote health across public sectors and address health determinants such as poverty, hunger, education, hygiene and sanitation, human behaviours and life styles that are often the source of illness and diseases.
The Ministers of Health and WHO jointly agreed that health systems strengthening based on primary health care approach is the right response to cope with current public health problems. This requires strengthening local capacities to deliver quality health care and empowering communities to participate in decisions concerning their own health and development. This is essential in our efforts to achieve the health Millennium Development Goals.
- Excellencies,
- Distinguished guests,
- Ladies and gentleman:
The community-directed intervention strategy (CDI) pioneered by the African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control APOC has proven to be effective in the control of Onchocerciasis. This strategy has also facilitated the delivery of integrated package of interventions such as insecticide-treated bed nets, home management of malaria and vitamin A supplementation.
The CDI strategy has therefore the potential to promote primary health care. I am convinced that to cope with the high burden of diseases, countries in the African region should strengthen health systems and scale-up the delivery of health care using cost-effective interventions. This requires increased commitment of Governments in terms of funding, disease surveillance and cross-border collaboration.
As part of this strategy, the Regional Committee of WHO deliberated a few months ago on the creation of Centers of Excellence that will strengthen the regional capacity in research to generate evidence for decision-making by Governments, in the areas of epidemiological surveillance, public health laboratory, and quality control of drugs and food.
Under this framework, a Project document is being finalised and will be discussed with ECOWAS Member-States and development partners with the aim of transforming the current Multi-Disease Surveillance Centre (MDSC) in Ouagadougou into a Centre of Excellence for Disease Control.
Finally, I wish to appeal to all of you, in your different capacities, to increase your support to health development in Africa. The challenges may be daunting, but they can be successfully addressed!
I cannot end this address without thanking you honourable ministers, development partners, pharmaceutical companies, and Non Governmental Development Organisations, in oncho control, for your generous contributions.
I wish you all a successful session of the Joint Action Forum, with the hope that your deliberations will contribute to strengthen national health development frameworks and deliver better health care.
I thank you very much for your attention.