Cotonou, 3 November 2014 – President Boni Yayi of Benin has urged African countries to strengthen their fragile health systems to respond to the epidemics that plague the continent. Addressing delegates at the opening ceremony of the 64th session of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Regional Committee for Africa in Cotonou, he stressed that health is central to development and underscored the importance of addressing maternal and child health, the impact of climate change and its attendant diseases, as well as noncommunicable diseases in the Region.

The Benin leader called on countries in the Region to embrace private-public partnerships, conventional and traditional medicine and south-south cooperation to complement assistance from other international partners to address the health challenges facing the continent. The President pointed out that, WHO’s role in improving people’s health is evident inspite of the financial and human resources constraints facing the organisation.  “We still and will always need to draw upon WHO – our common Organization in order to continue to fight disease in all its forms,” said President Boni Yayi.

Referring to the health gains in the African region, he said: “The successes in health in Africa in the recent decade were achieved with the invaluable support of the Regional Office under the successful leadership of Dr Luis Sambo and members of his team”. President Boni Yayi expressed gratitude on behalf of Heads of States and Governments in the Region for WHO’s role in improving the health of people in the Region. 

The UN Secretary-General Mr Ban Ki-Moon, in a message read on his behalf by Dr Margaret Chan, Director -General of WHO, said the world faces an unprecedented Ebola crisis that demands a massive global response and effective regional partnerships. He observed that Ebola is destroying families and communities and eroding hard-won progress achieved through the Millennium Development Goals.

“I have established a first-of-its-kind emergency health operation -- the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response, or UNMEER. As the international community strengthens its response, I look to you, Honourable Ministers, for your leadership. You need to ensure that preparedness plans are in place and funds are available to implement them”, he said.

In her remarks, the Director-General of WHO, Dr Margaret Chan, noted that the success of Africa’s unparalleled economic and social transformation depends on whether governments make equity in the distribution of benefits, an explicit policy goal. The Ebola outbreak that is ravaging parts of West Africa is the most severe acute public health emergency seen in modern times and the urgent need to strengthen long-neglected health systems, an argument long-championed by the Regional Director, can no longer be left to fall on deaf ears.

She said the outbreak’s unprecedented severity is attributed to failure to put basic public health infrastructures in place adding that: “Without fundamental public health infrastructures in place, no country is stable. No society is secure. No resilience exists to withstand the shocks that our 21st century societies are delivering with ever-greater frequency and force, whether from a changing climate or a runaway killer virus”.

Dr Chan drew attention to the lack of vaccines and cure for a disease that emerged nearly four dec-ades ago because Ebola has historically been confined to poor African nations.

“The R&D incentive is virtually non-existent. A profit-driven industry does not invest in products for markets that cannot pay. WHO has been trying to make this issue visible for ages. Now people can see for themselves” said the Director-General.

In his speech, the WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Luis Sambo, noted that the on-going Ebola virus disease outbreak has set back the health systems of the affected countries and compro-mised the progress achieved in socio-economic development. He observed the African Region continues to grapple with humanitarian crises as it is in Central African Republic (CAR) and South Sudan with serious consequences on health care delivery. “These challenges underscore the need to engage in in-depth reforms to strengthen the health system’s resilience and to ensure universal health coverage”, he said. 

Referring to some of the progress in health development during the past decade, the Regional Director pointed out that despite the many challenges facing the African region, infant mortality fell from 80 to 63 deaths per 1,000 live births; under five mortality dropped from 129 to 95 deaths per 1,000 live births; the maternal mortality ratio declined from 670 to 500 deaths per 100 000 live births. He pointed out that the incidence of HIV/AIDS has been reduced by 26%. The number of AIDS-related deaths was reduced by 34%. The incidence of malaria has declined by 39% and mortality by 62%. 

Dr Sambo told the delegates that since the introduction of the conjugate vaccine in 2010, over 153 million people from 12 countries have been vaccinated resulting in no confirmed cases of meningococcal A meningitis recorded in the vaccinated population.  He drew attention to 95% reduction in polio cases during the past decade adding that leprosy has been eliminated and the region is on course to eradicate Guinea worm disease. Regarding River Blindness, the African Region has reached the point of control for this disease.

He expressed gratitude to President Dos Santos of Angola, the Health Ministers and their delegations for the privilege given him to serve the Organization as Regional Director and staff of WHO for their hard work during past decade.

The week-long conference is attended by Health Ministers and high ranking health officials from 47 countries in the WHO African Region.

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