2017-04-15 18:34:44

Monrovia, Liberia, April 12, 2017 ' The West African Health Organization (WAHO) has been commended by H.E. the President of the Republic of Liberia, and Chair of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government, Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and H.E. The President of the Republic of Togo, Mr.Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe, the Coordinator of the Ebola response and elimination efforts.

This was during the High-Level Meeting on Post-Ebola organized by WAHO and ECOWAS in Monrovia where President Faure Gnassingbe delivered the keynote address.

The High-Level Meeting was the climax of a two-day technical meeting where experts discussed the post-Ebola recovery efforts in the sub-region as well as in the individual countries that were mostly affected by the epidemics (Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone). The purpose was for the Heads of State to approve the report and also to adopt the draft Monrovia Declaration.

The Director General of WAHO in his speech acknowledged the important role played by the President of Togo, His Excellency Mr.Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe, who was appointed by his colleague Heads of State and Government, to coordinate the Ebola response and elimination efforts. He also paid special tribute to the Heads of State of the three most affected countries, and in particular Her Excellency Madam Sirleaf Johnson, President of Liberia and the current Chairperson of ECOWAS, for showing true statesmanship, extraordinary courage, and dynamic leadership. The WAHO DG highlighted some key actions and progress made which include: the establishment of the ECOWAS Regional Centre for Surveillance and Disease Control in Abuja, the setting up and training of an ECOWAS Rapid Response Team which can be readily mobilized in the event of any such disease outbreaks.

Others are the establishment of a network of laboratories and the ongoing process of establishing the National Coordination Institutions in the countries and the definition of the operational framework of the One Health initiative, which was approved last December by the Heads of State and Government.

He appealed to all our partners to continue to support the ECOWAS Member-States in their bid to build more resilient health systems.

He also urged Member States to implement the 2001 Abuja Declaration of allocating at least 15% of national budgets to improve the health sector, as well as some key decisions taken by the ECOWAS Heads of State and Governments including those on the ECOWAS Regional Centre for Surveillance and Disease Control, as well as the Solidarity Fund and the One Health initiative.

The President of ECOWAS Commission, H.E. Mr.Marcel A. de Souza, reiterated ECOWAS' determination to continue to work relentlessly on the post-Ebola recovery efforts in the countries as well as facilitating necessary improvement in the health infrastructure of the region as a whole. He said: '??The time to do more for our people could not have been more auspicious than now, especially, as ECOWAS is transforming from its policy of ECOWAS of Member States to ECOWAS of the people in pursuance of the implementation of the Vision 2020 objectives'??. He gave the assurance that 'the outcome of the meeting would serve as a veritable platform to make ECOWAS, through the laudable programs of WAHO, more visible to the people of the region'.

H.E. the President of the Republic of Liberia, and Chair of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government, Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, expressed deep gratitude to ECOWAS countries for coming together to support the people Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone to help fight the epidemic.

She thanked President Mr.Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe for a successful coordination of the Ebola response. '??'?? Coordination that brought together not only our supporters from West Africa but also all of Africa. '??'?? She emphasized.

She praised the spirit of resilience and determination demonstrated by the three affected countries to put a massive effort to return to normalcy, despite the lack of preparedness and response capacity at country and regional levels.

She informed President Faure that the three countries have put in place resilience system that can withstand any outbreak. She however called for more investment in the health system, information sharing, disease surveillance and capacity building among others, to be able to prevent and/or control future outbreaks.

H.E. the President of the Republic of Togo, Mr.Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe, the Coordinator of the Ebola response and elimination efforts, who delivered the keynote address, paid a glowing tribute to Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for showing true leadership during the Ebola crisis both within her country and the region as a whole. He said the meeting was timely as it was an opportunity to draw lessons from the Ebola crisis and share ideas on how to accelerate the implementation of recommendations.

Mr.Faure Gnassingbe advised that we should always be prepared, anticipate for any eventual epidemics. '??Epidemics existed, they exist and will continue to exist'?? he noted.

He commended WAHO and the development partners for their daily actions in the implementation of their multi-sector regional action plan against epidemics.

Article proposé par:
Harvey de Hardt-Kaffils, Spécialiste Communication

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