Your Excellency Mokgweetsi Masisi, President of the Republic of Botswana,
Your Excellency, the First Lady of Botswana, Mma Neo. How you inspired us to walk with you and how you showed that you are a leader in the things that you say and do. And thank you for having brought the president to accompany us as well. Thank you both.
The Speaker of Botswana’s Parliament, Phandu Skelemani,
Honourable Ministers of Health and other Ministers of Botswana,
Honourable Ministers of Health of the African Region Countries and Heads of Delegation,
The Chair of the Seventy-second Regional Committee, Dr Mijiyawa, the Minister of Health of Togo. Bonjour mon frere. I know you are connected online.
Your Excellency Madam Minata Samaté Cessouma, Commissioner for Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development of the African Union. I look forward to your joining us here and I’m sorry that beyond your control, you could not be in time.
The Africa CDC Director-General, Dr Jean Kaseya,
UN Resident Coordinator and other colleagues from the United Nations agencies,
The WHO Botswana team and the broader WHO team,
Dear participants at the WHO 75th birthday ceremony – including colleagues such as the Regional Director Emeritus, Dr Luis Sambo, who is among us here, the past Honourable Minister of Health of Zimbabwe, Dr David Parirenyatwa, retired WHO leaders and colleagues, and other contributors to improved health in the African region,
Dear multiple partners who accompany Africa’s bid for health for the people. Welcome to you, too.
Distinguished guests and members of the media,
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is my great pleasure to welcome you to the Seventy-third session of the WHO Regional Committee for Africa.
I am particularly delighted that I am doing so in my hometown, Gaborone, and my country, Botswana.
I express my deep gratitude to His Excellency, President Mokgweetsi Masisi, Honourable Dikoloti, the Minister of Health and Wellness; and the government of Botswana across the different sectoral ministries for the preparations for this session of the RC, and for facilitating the smooth arrival of the delegates.
Indeed, Botswana has registered important progress towards the national vision of “A Healthy Nation by 2023”. My colleague from the CDC already said it is one of the countries where direct payment for health care is almost non-existent. With a minimal nominal contribution, you will have access to everything that is available in the country and transferred outside of the country. I think that this is an example of how to make sure that out-of-pocket payment is not a burden to the population. I'm very proud of this.
We could take many examples of achievement and progress in health in this manner. And I'll just cite a couple: The mother-to-child transmission of HIV, has been reduced to less than 5%, and Botswana has been the first high-burden country in the world to achieve this milestone.
HIV transmission rates have fallen from 40% of the sexually active age group in 1999, to below 1% this year. What an achievement for a nation that once had the highest HIV prevalence rate in the world.
As the National AIDS Control Programme Manager in Botswana’s Ministry of Health, I was once the face of the national response to HIV at international conferences and known as that woman whose country has the worst HIV problem in the world. So, I'm proud of the progress that has been made over the years.
I commend you, Your Excellency, for your personal commitment to strengthening the health sector’s contribution to good health, to the national economy by investing in science, in research and innovation, and public-private partnerships, within your Re-set Agenda. Thank you for that.
In 2014 and 2019 – Botswana put forward my candidacy for WHO Regional Director for Africa, and last year graciously offered to host the Seventy-third session of the Regional Committee.
I am truly grateful to the government and people of Botswana.
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My sincere thanks to the Government of Togo for having hosted a truly memorable Seventy-second Regional Committee for Africa last year.
I am particularly grateful to Professor Mijiyawa Moustafa, the Minister of Health—who was set to come and had to cancel at the last minute due to an emergency—for his support to the Secretariat and Regional Director over the last year. He is connected, I believe, but he also sends his greetings and best wishes for a successful meeting.
I acknowledge with great appreciation the valuable assistance of the two Vice Presidents: Dr Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda, the Minister of Health of Malawi, and Dr Jane Ruth Ocero Aceng, the Minister of Health of the Republic of Uganda.
On behalf of the region, I thank you for your service and dedication.
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Excellencies, colleagues and friends,
On the 5th of May , WHO ended the global emergency status for the COVID-19 pandemic. That difficult, in fact, tragic experience is, paradoxically, also a special cause for celebration in Africa. The agonising struggle to obtain sufficient supplies of key items for the response is no doubt unforgettable for governments and the partners working to support them. I will never forget the agonising phone calls I had with ministers while we were plotting how to get these items from one city to another, or something else from another country so that one could put together the package for testing and follow-up of people in Africa. It is an indelible memory of my own experience, as Regional Director of WHO.
However, we’ve seen that the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in Africa that were predicted did not occur. And for that, I’d like to congratulate and thank the Heads of State, the Health Ministers, the other sectors and the population for having played their role under extremely challenging circumstances. We saw African Heads of State and entire governments responding, and strong continental platforms being established at the level of the African Union. They accelerated an unprecedented momentum towards self-determination and self-reliance on the continent. We salute this, and have worked closely with the Africa CDC, AUDA NEPAD and the Commission for Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development to strengthen national response capacity to disease outbreaks.
Among many actions taken – for example, countries rapidly expanded their genomic sequencing capacity – and that is a legacy that will address numerous other diagnostic needs. The African Medicines Agency is all but set to get practically established.
Allow me to quote the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, who stated, “The African continent’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has provided valuable lessons for the rest of the world.”
Our health and education systems and economies, however, did take a big hit from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Disruption in the delivery of routine immunization services resulted in a significantly reduced number of children being vaccinated and an increasing number of outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases.
We at WHO are working with our Member States in the Region to reverse the negative impact across the board and to boost their pandemic preparedness response capacity, starting right from the community level.
In this respect, the implementation of three WHO AFRO flagship programmes, the PROSE (Promoting Resilience of Systems for Emergencies), the TASS (Transforming African Surveillance Systems), and SURGE (Strengthening and Utilizing Response Groups for Emergencies) is building national capacity to monitor and respond to risks across the continent. We’re working and it’s progressing—that our Member States have the tools in place to be the first responders to an outbreak and then we can call in international support from countries. And this is progressing extremely well.
At the global level, an intergovernmental body is negotiating and drafting an international instrument on pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response. A working group has also been set up to amend the International Health Regulations to ensure a fit-for-purpose instrument.
And here, I’d like to call on all our Member States to actively participate in these global discussions and negotiations. This will ensure that the needs of our region are adequately addressed, and better prepare us for the next pandemic and for international decisions.
I'd like to request our English speakers now put on your headphones, please, because I'm going to continue my statement in French.
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Excellences, chers collègues et amis,
Nous commençons notre réunion dans un contexte marqué par des rappels cruels des répercussions que la crise climatique a sur la santé et de la nécessité d’agir de toute urgence et de manière décisive pour y faire face.
Nous avons vu l’Europe « brûler » littéralement au cours des derniers mois.
Ici dans notre Région, la sécheresse prolongée au Sahel et dans la grande Corne de l’Afrique et les cyclones en Afrique australe ont accru la morbidité, la mortalité et la souffrance humaine. Ces phénomènes éprouvent très fortement les services de santé.
Nous œuvrons de concert avec des partenaires pour accompagner nos États Membres dans les efforts qu’ils font pour fournir des services de santé et de nutrition essentiels aux communautés touchées.
En mai dernier, en marge de l’Assemblée mondiale de la Santé, avec vos gouvernements et d’autres partenaires, nous avons lancé une initiative régionale destinée à lutter contre les conséquences sanitaires du changement climatique sur le continent.
À mon arrivée ici, j’ai assisté à l’ouverture d’une réunion, CHANCE, le réseau sur le climat et la santé établi en Afrique et exhorte les gouvernements à renforcer leurs liens et à utiliser les résultats de leur analyse pour mener des actions efficaces.
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Excellences, chers collègues et amis,
Des progrès ont été accomplis en ce qui concerne l’état de santé des populations africaines et la prestation des services de santé. Plus de personnes ont accès aux services de santé et vivent en meilleure santé dans la Région africaine de l’OMS. L’espérance de vie a augmenté. J’aborderai ces résultats dans leur intégralité cette après-midi, dans l’exposé sur mon rapport annuel.
Mais des défis perdurent : les dépenses publiques de santé sont faibles dans la majorité de nos pays. Et l’Afrique abrite deux des trois personnes les plus pauvres qui paient directement de leur poche leurs soins de santé.
Le nombre de femmes qui meurent de causes liées à la grossesse reste inacceptable et reflète les inégalités que des femmes subissent.
La charge croissante due aux maladies non transmissibles en Afrique ne s’est pas accompagnée d’une hausse de l’investissement consenti dans la lutte contre ces maladies par les gouvernements et les partenaires.
La semaine dernière, j’ai assisté à une réunion sur le cancer du col de l’utérus avec des survivantes, et j’ai été enthousiasmée par le potentiel des nouveaux outils à accélérer l’accès à la vaccination, au dépistage et au traitement.
Nous sommes déterminés à travailler avec nos États Membres et nos partenaires pour accélérer les progrès vers les objectifs de développement durable –
En faisant des soins de santé primaires la passerelle vers la couverture sanitaire universelle.
En diversifiant les moyens d’assurer la santé.
En renforçant la capacité de recherche et de réglementation de nos États Membres pour soutenir la fabrication locale.
Et en renforçant les partenariats aux niveaux national, régional et mondial.
L’Afrique est peut-être le continent qui recèle le plus grand potentiel d’innovation – des téléphones portables entre les mains des agents de santé aux dispositifs à ultrasons « de poche » qui coûtent 50 fois moins cher que les machines utilisées dans les hôpitaux –, nous devons saisir les possibilités infinies qui se présentent.
Nous devons utiliser à bon escient les partenariats stratégiques avec le secteur privé, comme la COVID-19 nous l’a enseigné.
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Excellencies, dear colleagues and friends,
We have a busy week – from discussing how more people can benefit from universal health coverage to how WHO can better support countries; and participating in the various side events that we’ve been invited to.
I truly appreciate and anticipate your usual active participation.
Tomorrow evening, we will have a special event to mark WHO’s 75th anniversary year. I look forward to seeing you all there.
Although we’re living in a challenging global context of health, recent advancements in our Member States demonstrate that the future of health in the African Region is hopeful.
African leaders are more directly taking charge of continental institutions and we acknowledge the commitments of our leaders to accelerate progress towards universal health coverage and health security. And the joint actions by Governments and partners to translate these commitments into reality.
The UN High-level meetings on Universal Health Coverage, Pandemic Preparedness and Response and TB, which will be held next month in New York, will allow us all to take stock of progress and learn from each other.
We look forward to strong participation from our region so that the outcomes and decisions are relevant.
The future is hopeful because we are using important lessons, such as from the pandemic, to enhance our preparedness and response to health emergencies, recently demonstrated by the shortened time it took to control outbreaks of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda and Marburg in Equatorial Guinea, the United Republic of Tanzania and Ghana.
The future is hopeful because Ghana, Kenya and Malawi successfully introduced the first malaria vaccine; Eritrea, Lesotho, Sierra Leone and Eswatini effectively launched the Human Papillomavirus Vaccine; Malawi rolled out the typhoid conjugate vaccine and controlled the continent’s largest cholera outbreak; and Guinea Bissau slashed meningitis.
The future is hopeful because Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Liberia and Ghana have scaled up access to mental health services at the community level while many more Member States have integrated mental health and psychosocial support services into emergency response operations.
The future is hopeful because Benin, Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea responded effectively to food safety emergencies.
Indeed, the future is hopeful because Africa’s youthful population has actively embraced the use of technology and digital tools to transform our actions in health.
We have partners and governments that are determined to make a better impact through supporting integrated approaches to addressing health problems and focusing on people, reducing the fragmentation that has limited the outcomes of significant health investments.
These few examples give us hope - to perform our vital work to protect and promote people’s health.
I look forward very much to great discussions and decisions, and we at WHO will support the implementation.
Thank you, once again, for having come and for contributing.
And again, I welcome you to my hometown of Gaborone in Botswana. Pula!
Thank you all very much.