Date: 2017-09-14 19:27:21 ID: 1708
The Director General of WAHO, in his capacity as a panellist at the international meeting on the theme “Infectious threats in developing countries: an approach to global health and for stakeholders on the ground”, recalled the situation of epidemic risks in West Africa, the issues at stake, the interventions and the way forward.
On a mission to Annecy, France, for the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Mérieux Foundation in Annecy, France, the Director General of WAHO took part, at “Des Pensières” Centre, in the scientific deliberations on public health priorities. The round tables organised after the opening ceremony in the presence of several personalities, including Mr Alain Mérieux, President of the Foundation and Mr Benoit Miribel, Director General Mérieux Foundation, respectively focused on the following:
“Epidemic risks in developing countries”, a session chaired by Professor Christian Brécho, Director General of the Pasteur Institute; The second round table focused on the new local dynamics for capacity building in health. It was chaired by Professor Ogobara Doumbo, Director of the Research and Training Centre on malaria at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Bamako, Mali; The third round table focused on the requisite multi-factor approach to global health, chaired by Professor Jean-William Pape, Founder and Director of the GHESKIO Centres (Haitian Study Group on Kaposi’s Sarcoma and opportunistic infections) in Haiti, Professor of Medicine at the Weill Medical College of the Cornell University.
For the first round the table, after the opening of deliberations by Pr Brèchot, the DG of WAHO, Dr Xavier CRESPIN, in his capacity as a panellist, made a presentation on the epidemic risks in West Africa, particularly the current epidemiological situation, the issues at stake, the interventions and the way forward.
Dr Xavier CRESPIN indicated that the epidemics cause considerable loss of human life each year and constitute a real public health problem in the region and a threat to global food security. West Africa region is one of the parts of the world where epidemics exact a heavy toll on the population. More than 1730 epidemics were reported in Africa between 1970 and 2016, out of which several of them were in West Africa. The most frequent are cholera, arbovirus, measles and meningitis, and since 2014 the Ebola virus disease epidemic, for which the national health systems are not well prepared to provide adequate responses. The region is also confronted with natural catastrophes (floods, drought, conflicts, etc.), which could cause health problems. Meanwhile, current data from research and surveillance indicate that about 75% of new infectious diseases affecting humans during the last decade are from animal origin, that is, zoonosis such as viral haemorrhagic fever (Ebola, Rift Valley Fever, etc.).
These recurrent epidemics have negative consequences on the development of countries, since they bring about the limitation of the free movements of persons and goods, with a negative impact on socio-economic development. That is why ECOWAS and WAHO made the strengthening of health systems a priority so as to better prevent diseases, restore health, and participate in the promotion of favourable conditions for the attainment of a state of complete well-being of the citizens. Similarly, the strategic plan (2016-2020) was developed with 13 priority programmes, including those concerning: health information and research; disease control; epidemics and health emergencies; medicines and vaccines; human resources in health; technical cooperation and harmonisation of policies; etc.
With regard to epidemics control, the Director General of WAHO indicated that the principal objective is to “build the capacities of the 15 ECOWAS member States in surveillance, prevention, response and resilience to epidemic shocks and emergencies”. He recalled some major interventions such as the establishment of the Regional Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, with its headquarters in Nigeria, to build the capacity of ECOWAS member States to better prevent, screen for diseases and provide efficient responses to epidemics; build capacity in health research; strengthen scientific cooperation in disease surveillance between ECOWAS and the other Centres; consolidate cross-border and inter-sector collaboration in public health. He recalled the four essential components of the Centre, namely: epidemiological surveillance and early warning; laboratory; research and training; and finally investigation and response.
The other major interventions at the regional level focus on the adoption and implementation of the ONE HEALTH approach, with the establishment of a regional coordination platform around four essential activities, namely: evaluation of the health risks in the region; establishment of an integrated system for information sharing; capacity building for laboratories; organisation of joint simulation exercises; (multi-sector and multi-disciplinary) investigation, prevention and response to epidemics; and finally the strengthening of cross-border and inter-sector collaboration.
Also worth noting is the establishment of a regional fund for epidemics control with a view to supporting countries in the management of epidemics (technical, financial and logistical support).
Dr Xavier CRESPIN finally pointed out that besides the regional mechanism put in place, WAHO is working with various partners with a view to adequately implementing in ECOWAS member States some strategies and tools developed to control all these diseases, particularly the WHO International Health Regulations (IHR 2005), the assessment tool for Performance of Veterinary Services (PVS) of the World Organisation for Animal Health, and the Global Health Security Agenda.
These three round tables, with direct transmission coverage in three Centres of the Mérieux Foundation in Laos, Mali and the Middle-East, raised numerous questions and fruitful discussions among participants from all the continents.
Meanwhile, Dr Xavier Crespin held a meeting with the Director of communications of the Mérieux Foundation, Mrs Koren Wolman-Tardy, with whom he discussed in detail some issues arising from his presentation.
The DG of WAHO also granted an interview to the RFI journalist, Charlie Dupiot, on the epidemics situation in West Africa and the measures taken at the regional and national levels with a view to controlling the diseases more effectively.
Finally, the DG of WAHO took advantage of his stay in ANNECY to meet several partners (CORDS, AFD, AMP, WB, Universities, Associations and other foundations working towards controlling infectious diseases in Africa, etc.). The DG participated in a cocktail and in an official dinner, which marked the end of day.
It is worth noting that WAHO and the Mérieux Foundation have been collaborating for several years in the areas of improving laboratory services, continuous and basic training, laboratory information management, strengthening of procurement systems for health commodities and management of equipment through a regional approach, and finally the financing of laboratory systems the West Africa region.
This collaboration has been reinforced over the last few years, particularly thanks to the WARDS and REDISSE projects, both financed by the World Bank.