{"id":179367,"date":"2024-08-27T20:58:23","date_gmt":"2024-08-27T18:58:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/central-africa\/congo\/african-health-ministers-kick-off-regions-top-health-forum\/"},"modified":"2024-08-27T20:58:23","modified_gmt":"2024-08-27T18:58:23","slug":"african-health-ministers-kick-off-regions-top-health-forum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/central-africa\/congo\/african-health-ministers-kick-off-regions-top-health-forum\/","title":{"rendered":"African health ministers kick off region\u2019s top health forum"},"content":{"rendered":"

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African health ministers and government representatives gathering in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, today kicked off the Seventy-fourth session of the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Committee for Africa, the continent\u2019s flagship health forum held annually to discuss and agree on measures to address health challenges and promote people\u2019s well-being<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The meeting, which takes place from 26\u201330 August 2024 in Congo\u2019s capital city, brings together health ministers from the 47 countries of the WHO African Region to discuss and approve regional policies, and adopt key resolutions to guide the Organization\u2019s work on the continent. During this year\u2019s meeting, the ministers will also nominate a new Regional Director to succeed Dr Matshidiso Moeti, who is ending her 10-year tenure at the helm.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Republic of the Congo is honoured to host this important session of the World Health Organization’s Regional Committee for Africa,\u201d said H. E President Denis Sassou N\u2019Guesso at the opening of the Regional Committee, pointing out that \u201chealth is our greatest asset … WHO’s commitment to this noble cause to ensure people\u2019s survival is a great encouragement \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis meeting is being held at a decisive moment for Africa. The continent is facing unprecedented challenges that require immediate and concerted action on our part,\u201d said Ambassador Minata Samat\u00e9 Cessouma, African Union Commissioner for Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development.<\/p>\n

Key agenda items include a focus on mitigating high rates of child mortality and the need to urgently turn the tide on this significant threat to Africa\u2019s children. Polio and cervical cancer are two other health challenges that will receive special attention. For polio, the aim is to reinforce commitments and strategize to achieve complete eradication; for cervical cancer, a special side event will highlight the need to prioritize prevention through human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination and screening.<\/p>\n

WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus praised Member States for strengthening emergency preparedness and primary health care, negotiating a pandemic agreement and supporting the Investment Round to increase sustainable financing for WHO.<\/p>\n

But the new mpox outbreaks showed why sustained commitment and investment was needed to protect and promote public health in Africa, Dr Tedros added.<\/p>\n

\u201cWHO is committed to working with African countries and partners to bring the mpox outbreaks under control quickly, and I am confident we can,\u201d Dr Tedros said. \u201cBut the emergency highlights the weaknesses in the health security architecture, in Africa and globally. This is why all Member States should actively engage in negotiations on the Pandemic Agreement and invest in WHO and public health, to protect people today and tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

This week\u2019s events will also provide a platform to recognize the significant progress made in the WHO African region, specifically the celebrated Transformation Agenda, driven by Dr Moeti during her mandate as Regional Director. The region has also been declared free of wild poliovirus, marking a historic public health victory, while 19 African countries have successfully eliminated at least one neglected tropical disease.<\/p>\n

\u201cNever before have governments and partners been so determined to make a better impact – through supporting integrated approaches to addressing health problems; focusing on people; and reducing the fragmentation that has limited the outcomes of significant health investments,\u201d said Dr Moeti.<\/p>\n

About 800 participants are attending the event, including representatives from United Nations agencies, non-governmental organizations, civil society, academia and development partners, either in-person or virtually.<\/p>\n

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of WHO Regional Office for Africa.<\/i><\/p>\n

Source<\/a>
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South Africa Today Africa \u2013 Central Africa Congo<\/a> News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Download logo African health ministers and government representatives gathering in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, today kicked off the Seventy-fourth session of the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Committee for Africa, the continent\u2019s flagship health forum held annually to discuss and agree on measures to address health challenges and promote people\u2019s well-being The meeting, which takes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":179368,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-newsroom.com\/files\/large\/e2859b55e2c1585","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8377],"tags":[258,256,4380,4696,4554,8378,8379,8381,6284,5731,6359,8788,257,6897,254,7319,8380],"class_list":["post-179367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-congo","tag-africa","tag-africa-news","tag-african","tag-central-africa","tag-congo","tag-congo-news","tag-congo-republic","tag-congo-brazzaville","tag-forum","tag-health","tag-kick","tag-ministers","tag-news","tag-regions","tag-south-africa-today","tag-top","tag-west-congo"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-newsroom.com\/files\/large\/e2859b55e2c1585","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179367","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179367"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179367\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/179368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/africa-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}