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WHO and the African Centres for Disease Control strengthen their collaboration in emergency preparedness and response, partnerships and implementing international health regulations.

Dr Anwar Husnoo, the Minister of Health and Quality of Life, opened the validation workshop held on 02 October 2018 at Le Meridien Hotel, Mauritius to validate the findings of the National Assessment of the Health System for better non-communicable disease outcomes.  Eminent personalities, namely Her Excellency, Ms Marjanna Sall, the Ambassador of European Union, Mrs Christine  Umutoni, United Nation Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, Dr Laurent Musango, the WHO Representative in Mauritius, Mr  Prakash Nowbuth, Senior Chief Executive, Dr Maryam Timol, the acting Director General Health Services, Mrs Mudaliar, Permanent Secretary of the Health Ministry and were present during the opening ceremony.  The national assessment of the health system, a joint initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO), European Union and the Ministry of Health and Quality of Life, which started in September 2017, has now reached the stage of completion.  The assessment results will be used in national processes for elaborating the Health Sector Strategic Plan (HSSP) and  the Integrated NCD Action Plan for Mauritius.

Earlier this year Nigeria experienced its largest Lassa fever outbreak ever. For Samuel Mutbam it was a baptism by fire. As WHO’s Deputy Incident Manager he was a key member of the coordination team and often worked for 15 hours a day, with little time to eat.

With growing momentum to advance universal health coverage, strengthen health security, and ensure sustainable socio-economic transformation of the African continent, the World Health Organization in the African Region and the African Union Commission (AUC) have reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen collaboration between the two institutions to improve people’s health in Africa.

The National Health Accounts (NHA) Report 2017 was launched by the Health Minister, Dr Honourable Anwar Husnoo, on 24 September 2018 during a workshop in the presence of Dr Laurent Musango, WHO Representative in Mauritius, Dr Myriam Timol, Acting Director General Health Services, Permanent secretary, Mrs M.Mudaliar and Dr (Mrs) L. D. Luckheenarain from the Ministry of Health and Quality of Life,  and representatives of the private sector academia and civil society. The NHA 2017 has improved over the past rounds as it includes expenditures on classification of diseases developed for the first time in Mauritius. It tracks the levels and structure of healthcare spending vis-a-vis the general health status of the population occurred over a period of one year.  The Health Minister, Dr Hon. A. Husnoo, during his keynote address, said that ‘government acknowledges that health is a basic human right and that healthcare services should be provided according to need and not ability to pay.’ He added that ‘for the Government, health is not a commodity that can be traded at a price to alleviate the sufferings of people who are sick.’