The Director General of WAHO pleased with the three-day visit to Cabo Verde
The Director General of the West African Health Organisation (WAHO), Prof Stanley Okolo, ended his three-day visit to Cabo Verde with a note of satisfaction. For him, the visit was an opportunity to improve interventions and collaboration between WAHO and Cabo Verde.
Prof Stanley Okolo stated that many good lessons can be learned in Cabo Verde that can serve as a model for other African countries. "In the ECOWAS region, Cabo Verde is at the top compared to the other West African countries; it is the best in terms of Health indicators," he emphasized.
According to the Director General, his mission to Cabo Verde allowed him to learn firsthand about national policies on the prevention of epidemics. It was "an opportunity to discuss with the Honourable Minister of Health on how we will continue to support the country and learn more about Cabo Verde", he added.
He also explained that the visit was an opportunity for WAHO to reiterate its commitment to support Cabo Verde. "We have already trained people here, and we now want to bring these people to work together in harmony. After identifying what needs to be done, we will approach the African Development Bank for support, to see what the bank can do, what WAHO can do and what the Government of Cabo Verde can do regarding this matter", he stated.
Prof Okolo defended the need to create the National Coordination Institute, a platform for health surveillance capable of providing efficient responses to the demands of the different aspects of health care. This institution will be a network of ECOWAS countries, which will work together on issues related to human, environmental and animal health", he explained.
According to Prof. Okolo "one of the most specific support is the ambulance that we will bring and the establishment of an institution to follow up on epidemics. It is an ambulance that provides laboratory tests and we are thinking of providing technical support to train Cabo Verdean technicians".
In his response, the Honourable Minister of Health, Arlindo do Rosário, stated that the National Coordination Institute is important for Cabo Verde because it will address various aspects of health in several domains, pointing out that Cabo Verde, which defines tourism as the engine of development, needs to have an efficient health security.
"It is essential to make progress in the establishment of this national coordination body, which will work with other existing bodies in each country, so that the entire ECOWAS region has real a possibility of creating an integrated surveillance system", observed Arlindo do Rosário.
In addition to discussing mosquito-borne diseases, the Minister said that the project will be "very important" for Cabo Verde because, as an island, it is necessary to study and learn about the effects of climate change and the environmental impacts that this phenomenon can have on health.
During his visit to Cabo Verde, the Director General of WAHO met with the Minister of Health and Social Security, the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and the Cabinet, the Minister of Sport and Deputy Prime Minister for Regional Integration. During these meetings, some challenges faced and support needed by the country were discussed and the vision of WAHO for the next four years were presented.
According to the Director General, his visit was an opportunity to obtain in-depth knowledge of the facilities and activities of the relevant institutions in Cabo Verde, especially, the Tira Chapéu Health Centre, the Dr. Agostinho Neto Hospital, the National Institute of Public Health, Inpharma, University of Cape Verde and the Núcleo Operacional da Sociedade de Informação (NOSI).