One Health Technical Meeting of ECOWAS Member States

One Health Technical Meeting of ECOWAS Member States

The One Health Technical Meeting of the ECOWAS Member States was held at Hotel 2 Février in Lomé, Republic of Togo from 28-30 October 2019.

The delegations of 16 countries (15 ECOWAS member States and Mauritania) were present, including for each country the REDISSE project Coordinator, the focal points of sectors related to Human Health, Animal Health and the Environment.Collaborating partners were also represented.

The opening ceremony was chaired by Dr Marcel SOSSINOU AWOUSSI, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene of the Republic of Togo.

The following authorities delivered speeches during the opening ceremony:

• The Representative of Africa CDC, Stephanie Salyer – Technical Advisor Africa CDC;
• The Representative of FAO, Representation in Congo, Dr Serge Nzietchueng – One Health Coordinator;
• The Representative of OIE, Dr Brice LAFIA – Technical Coordinator One Health;
• The Representative of WHO-TOGO, Dr DAVI Kokou Mawule – Disease Prevention and Control Officer;
• The Representative of World Bank– Mrs Hawa WAGUE CISSE – Country Manager of Togo;
• His Excellency Eric Stromayer, the Ambassador of the United States of America in Togo;
• The Representative of the Director General of WAHO, Dr Carlos BRITO – Director of Public Health and Research;
• The Representative of the Ministries of Health, Livestock and Environment, Dr Marcel SOSSINOU AWOUSSI - Secretary General of the Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene of Togo.

The main goal of this meeting was “to foster the implementation of One Health approach in West Africa and strengthen the multi-sectoral coordination for the prevention, detection and response to public health threats”.