African Health Ministers Adopt Resolutions To Improve Health As WHO Regional Meeting Closes

Main Category: HIV / AIDS
Also Included In: Tropical Diseases;  Swine Flu;  Tuberculosis
Article Date: 09 Sep 2009 - 4:00 PDT

Current ratings for:
'African Health Ministers Adopt Resolutions To Improve Health As WHO Regional Meeting Closes'

Patient / Public:not yet rated

Healthcare Prof:not yet rated

At the conclusion of the 59th session of the WHO Regional Committee for Africa, African health ministers agreed on four resolutions that aim to improve health on the continent, the Guardian reports. The regional committee adopted resolutions that deal with drug-resistance related to HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria; malaria elimination in Africa; and preparedness and response for the current H1N1 (swine) flu pandemic. The fourth resolution deals with establishing high-quality institutions for disease surveillance, food and medicine regulation and other public health-related interventions, according to the Guardian (Ukwuoma, 9/8).

Rwandan Health Minister Richard Sezibera said although Rwanda had already implemented those resolutions, the country should "increase the level of progress on the different policies," New Times/allAfrica.com reports. Oumar Ibrahima Toure, Mali's health minister, said his government will focus on immediately addressing maternal mortality, which was one of the major issues raised during the summit. "The maternal death rates in Africa are very alarming despite progress attained in other areas. It is not right for a woman to die while giving life. So our health system will ensure increased interventions in curbing the death rate of mothers," he said. Swaziland's health minister said his country will emphasize dealing with HIV/TB coinfection (Nambi, 9/5).

The next committee meeting is scheduled for 2010 in Equatorial Guinea (WHO/AFRO release, 9/4).

U.N. Special Envoy For TB Addresses Meeting

Jorge Sampaio, the U.N. special envoy for TB, addressed the meeting and highlighted HIV/TB coinfection and living conditions of women worldwide, which he said contribute to making TB "among the biggest killers of women in the world." The speech reflected on TB control achievements and also outlined some of the major current challenges. Health-e published an edited version of the speech (9/7).

Citing Rwanda's progress in its fight against HIV/AIDS after a meeting with President Paul Kagame, Sampaio said the country can lead Africa's fight against TB. "Rwanda has demonstrated the capacity to deal with epidemics. The efforts are really appreciated. It has led the way in establishing a good healthcare system. TB and HIV/AIDS have been tackled profoundly and we think Rwanda can be a case study for the rest of the continent," Sampaio said, New Times/allAfrica.com writes (Kagire, 9/4).

In a related story that examines tuberculosis in Nigeria and public misunderstanding about the disease, 234next.com talks with experts about how to curtail TB's spread and improve access to treatment that is free in many parts of the country (Adelaja, 9/5).

This information was reprinted from globalhealth.kff.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at globalhealth.kff.org.

© Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.



Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
Visit our hiv / aids section for the latest news on this subject.
There are no references listed for this article.
Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:

MLA
Kaiser. "African Health Ministers Adopt Resolutions To Improve Health As WHO Regional Meeting Closes." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 9 Sep. 2009. Web.
25 May. 2012. <http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/163349.php>
APA
Kaiser. (2009, September 9). "African Health Ministers Adopt Resolutions To Improve Health As WHO Regional Meeting Closes." Medical News Today. Retrieved from
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/163349.php.

Please note: If no author information is provided, the source is cited instead.


Add Your Opinion On This Article

'African Health Ministers Adopt Resolutions To Improve Health As WHO Regional Meeting Closes'

Please note that we publish your name, but we do not publish your email address. It is only used to let you know when your message is published. We do not use it for any other purpose. Please see our privacy policy for more information.

If you write about specific medications or operations, please do not name health care professionals by name.

All opinions are moderated before being included (to stop spam)

Your Name:*
E-mail Address:*
Your Opinion Title:*
Opinion:*
This is to help prevent SPAM submissions. Please enter the words exactly as they appear, including capital letters and punctuation.*

* Fields marked with a * need to be filled in before you hit the submit button.

Contact Our News Editors

For any corrections of factual information, or to contact the editors please use our feedback form.

Please send any medical news or health news press releases to:

Note: Any medical information published on this website is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional. For more information, please read our terms and conditions.


HIV / AIDS

What Is AIDS? What Is HIV?

AIDS (Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) is a disease caused by a virus called HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus). Read more...

Most Popular Articles



Follow Our HIV News On Twitter

Follow Us On Twitter
Get the latest news for this category delivered straight to your Twitter account. Simply visit our HIV / AIDS Twitter account and select the 'follow' option.



View list of all 'What Is...' articles »