- Your Excellency Mr Prime Minister of Togo,
- Mr Vice-President of the ECOWAS Commission,
- Members of Government,
- Honourable Ministers of Health of ECOWAS Member States,
- Director-General of West African Health Organization,
- Ambassadors and Members of the Diplomatic Corps accredited to Togo,
- Representatives of International Organizations and Bilateral and Multilateral Cooperation Agencies,
- Distinguished Guests,
- Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a privilege and a great honour for me to take the floor on the occasion of this official opening ceremony of the 12th Ordinary Assembly of Health Ministers of member countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Your Excellency Mr Prime Minister, your presence at this gathering is a reflection of the interest that you continue to show in the health of the people of Togo and a strong evidence of the activeness of ECOWAS and your desire to foster peer consultation in order to address issues of importance to health. Permit me to say, “Thank you”, for your presence in our midst. My delegation and I are grateful for the warm hospitality and welcome that the people of Togo have extended to us since our arrival here in Lome. We also thank the Togolese Government and ECOWAS for inviting us to take part in these deliberations.
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
There are upheavals in the world today, bringing new challenges in all sectors, and the health sector has not been spared. These new challenges such as change in lifestyle and climate change come as an addition onto the traditional burden of infectious diseases and require that we remain constantly on the alert. In the wake of the upheavals, West Africa is mobilizing and fighting back. That is why I would like to hail some major progress within ECOWAS in line with the spirit of integration characterizing this subregion. I am referring in particular to the formulation of a common drug policy, harmonization of drug regulation, harmonization of learning curricula and AIDS prevention and control. A significant reduction of the malaria burden has been recorded in this subregion especially in Cape Verde, Gambia and Senegal.
I am delighted also about the existing partnership between the West African Health Organization (WAHO) and WHO; in numerous areas, this collaboration has made it possible to unite our efforts in providing joint response to needs expressed by countries.
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Notwithstanding the major efforts mentioned above, several indicators of the health of the populations require improvement and some burning questions of public health remain today in the ECOWAS subregion. Together, we would have to give them closer attention.
We are less than five years to 2015, the target year for achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to which all countries of the African Region have subscribed. What we find today in our Region in general and in West Africa in particular is that progress remains very inadequate and, should the current trend continue, without any change, the majority of countries will not achieve the MDGs. Although we have concern for all the goals, we are particularly concerned about the limited results achieved in maternal mortality reduction and the difficulties countries are facing in maintaining achievements in child mortality and morbidity. The Commission on Women’s Health in the African Region, established under the honorary Chairmanship of Her Excellency Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia, can be an important launch pad to assist us to make progress on this important agenda.
The WHO Regional Office for Africa will continue to work together with you to accelerate the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
All countries worldwide, including those of the African Region, have committed themselves to eradicating poliomyelitis from the surface of the earth. Nonetheless, between 2009 and 2010, 12 countries in West Africa experienced importations of wild poliovirus cases after some of them had been polio-free for nearly one decade. The multiple synchronized immunization campaigns conducted by all ECOWAS countries succeeded in interrupting these importation episodes in June 2010 in the majority of the affected countries. It is my duty in particular to acknowledge the leadership role played by Heads of State of ECOWAS countries and to commend Nigeria for the undeniable progress it has made in the past two years. Indeed, Nigeria reduced the number of wild poliovirus cases by about 95% and there is cause to hope that the current progress will be consolidated. In contrast, the situation in Côte d’Ivoire calls for prudence on our part given the recent notification of wild poliovirus cases and no effort should be spared to stop this circulation as quickly as possible.
Concurrently, however, efforts to strengthen routine immunization should continue because it is the cornerstone of the control of vaccine-preventable child diseases. A strong and effective national routine immunization programme is our best bet for protecting the investments already made in the polio eradication initiative. In this regard, I would like to invite you to give special attention to the achievement of the polio eradication goal.
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Meningitis epidemics in West Africa cause bereavement of thousands of families each year. Warning systems for timely detection and effective response to these epidemics often fail to function the way they should. Even so, scientific progress in recent years gives us hope and the World Health Organization has fully played its role in ensuring that a new control tool would be available. Thus, a new meningitis A conjugate vaccine that is more powerful, that has a more lasting efficacy and that can be used in preventive campaign has been prequalified by WHO. Its gradual introduction as from the end of 2010 in countries of the meningitis belt gives us a glimmer of hope of eliminating ultimately the devastating epidemics of meningitis type A in countries of sub-Saharan Africa.
The subregion continues to record frequent cases of cholera that, today, has almost become an exclusively African scourge since more than 85% of cholera cases and deaths are recorded in our part of the world. As is the case in other continents, we too can overcome cholera if we improve access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation facilities for the majority of the population and if individual and collective hygiene as well as food hygiene are made an integral part of the elimination strategy. This means, of course, that case management should improve significantly because cholera lethality is higher in our Region than anywhere else in the world. I suggest that an in-depth brainstorming on cholera be organized without delay in each country.
Excellencies,
Honourable Ministers,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In recent years, many countries of the Region have experienced conflicts and natural disasters, leading to complex humanitarian crises with disastrous consequences on health systems, and causing internal and external displacement of populations, disruption of the continuum of care and treatment, nutrition problems, as well as aggressions and violence against vulnerable groups especially women and children.
Honourable Ministers,
You would recall that in 2010, you decided in Malabo to set up an African Public Health Emergency Fund. The catalytic role that this Fund will play in responding to epidemics, natural disasters and manmade disasters is more important now than ever. I am therefore appealing to all ECOWAS countries to support the establishment of this solidarity fund. I am counting on the support of ministers of health of African countries during the Sixty-first session of the Regional Committee which will decide on the modalities of contribution of governments of member countries.
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
During the Ministerial Consultation on Noncommunicable Diseases that took in Brazzaville last month, we, together, took stock of the situation in this area. The meeting noted that noncommunicable diseases had increased in magnitude significantly in our Region especially cardiovascular diseases, cancers, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, sickle-cell disease, injury and violence as well as neurological and mental diseases. The common denominator identified for noncommunicable diseases was change in lifestyle leading to exposure to the risk factors. Tobacco use, harmful use of alcohol, unbalanced diet and lack of physical activity were cited among the risk factors. The Brazzaville Declaration that was adopted unanimously in our Region acts as our guide today in the control of noncommunicable diseases.
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The global financial and economic crisis has substantially affected health financing and, as you know, WHO has not been spared. Financial support to programmes for the control of HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis has been reduced substantially. Thorough reforms are being planned to adjust WHO to the new global health context and to enable the Organization carry out its core functions better.
Before I conclude, I would like to commend the excellent ties of cooperation between Togo and WHO. The commemoration here in Lome, on 18 February 2011, of 50 years of cooperation, provided an occasion to take a retrospective look at the past and to look forward to the future for better health of the Togolese people. I am seizing this opportunity to congratulate the Government and the State of Togo for the positive health outcomes the country has recorded during these past 50 years of cooperation with WHO. The initiative to subsidize caesarean section with effect from 2 May 2011 is evidence of the determination of the Head and State and Government of Togo to meet the challenge of achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
I would like to end by wishing the 12th Assembly of ECOWAS Ministers of Health fruitful deliberations that will lead to concrete lines of action in response to the needs of the populations of the ECOWAS subregion. The World Health Organization stands ready to work jointly with you to consolidate these achievements and achieve other victories of benefit to health.
I thank you for your kind attention.