WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION 68TH SESSION OF THE …

1 EnglishNo. 01: 27th August 2018 | WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION 68TH SESSION OFTHE regional COMMITTEE FOR AFRICAW elcome Message of the regional DirectorOn behalf of the WHOD irector-General DrTedros AdhanomGhebreyesus, myselfand the entireSecretariat, I welcomeyou to the 68thThe 68th SESSION of the WHO RegionalCommittee for Africa to Discuss ImportantHealth IssuesThe 68th SESSION of the WHO RegionalCommittee (RC) for Africa opens today in Dakar,Senegal. This annual RC meeting brings togetherhealth ministers from the 47 Member States in theWHO African Region and is the highest WHOG overning Body on the continent. The current68th SESSION (RC68) will run from the 27th to 31stSession of the WHO regional Committee for Africa inDakar, Republic of would like to expressmy sincere gratitude tohis Excellency Mr. Macky Sall, President of theRepublic of Senegal and to the Senegalese people,for the hospitality and the excellent arrangementsmade for this continent faces a number of public HEALTH issueswhich challenge HEALTH security in the Regionincluding the ongoing Ebola Virus Disease outbreakin the Democratic Republic of Congo.

2 We have beenable to respond to these challenges in a timely androbust manner because of the excellent collaborationof the Member States, our partners and , the readiness and capacity of our staff tosupport response activities in any part of ourcontinent and the leadership of our ExecutiveManagement Team are also commendable. Weremain on full alert to respond to any diseaseoutbreak in any member Africa, Universal HEALTH Coverage (UHC) is nolonger an option, but an urgent requirement to theattainment of good HEALTH for all people as highlightedin the Sustainable Development Goal 3. We applaudefforts by several Member States that have takensteps to improve public finance management which isone of the critical ways to progress towards WHO African Region Secretariat is determined tosupport its Member States towards the attainment ofUHC given our mandate and comparative rapid increase in non-communicable diseases inmany African countries is a worrying trend that needsurgent actions.

3 The good news is that the underlyingcauses of this problem such as tobacco use, physicalinactivity, poor diets and harmful use of alcohol arewell known. I urge member states to take deliberateand sustained actions to address these risk the same time, we should also keep a keen eye oncommunicable diseases for which we now haveabundant information, medicines and technology tohandle. We are however cognizant of the fact thatthere are many social, economic and environmentdeterminants of HEALTH which are outside the scope ofthe Ministries of HEALTH but contribute to the HEALTH ofthe African population. We shall therefore continue toadvocate to other sectors and partners to takeeffective actions in their sectors and to ensure thathealth is integrated into all policies as these will leapfrog the attainment of UHC on our this regional Committee, we shall present aAugust 2018 at the King Fahd Palace Hotel.

4 RC68 is taking place at a critical moment and willdiscuss important issues such as the WHOA frican regional Office (WHO/AFRO) ProgrammeBudget 2020/21, the ongoing Ebola outbreak inthe Democratic Republic of Congo, theWHO/AFRO Transformation Agenda, sustainablefinancing for Universal HEALTH Coverage (UHC),frameworks for certification of polio eradicationand control of cholera among other the meeting, the WHO regional Directorfor Africa will present a report on the work ofWHO in the Region from 2017 to 2018. Furthermore, the delegates will review theProgress Report on the Implementation of theTransformation Agenda of the WORLD HealthOrganization Secretariat in the African Region:2015 2020 and a report on the resourcemobilization efforts through strengtheningpartnerships to better support to Member draft global strategy on HEALTH , environment andclimate change and a document on ensuringsustainable financing for UHC in Africa in themidst of changing global and local economicfactors will also be presented and regional Director will launch the report ofThe State of HEALTH in the African Region.

5 ARoadmap for Access to medicines and vaccinesand a report on the Status of implementation ofthe four time-bound commitments on non-communicable diseases in the African Region willalso be discussed. In addition, a draft GlobalAction Plan on the HEALTH of refugees andmigrants will be presented and discussed. The delegates will be presented with six progressreports on utilizing eHealth solutions; the AfricanHealth Observatory; the Global Technical Strategyfor Malaria; the Global HEALTH Sector Strategy forprevention, care and treatment of viral hepatitis;the Global HEALTH Sector Strategy on HIV/AIDS2016 2021 and the Framework for implementingthe End TB Strategy in the African Region2016 2020 For the first time, there is a HEALTH walk on theprogramme dubbed Walk the Talk: 70 years ofWHO service to the countries in whichdelegates participated on Sunday 26th AugustOPENING CEREMONY - Monday, 27 August 201807:00-08:00 Pick up of participants08:00 Positioning of Ballet group andHostesses08:00-09:00 Arrival and ushering ofparticipants /main entranceRegistrationWearing of RC68 scarvesDistribution of document foldersParticipants take their seats inthe hallProjection of messages/announcements on the screensMusical interlude08:00-09:00 Arrival of officials / VIP entranceRegistrationWearing of scarvesParticipants take their seats09:00-09:30 Arrival Installation of the Guestof Honour09:30-09.

6 45 Group photographHealthy Life Expectancy Increases inthe WHO African RegionThe findings of ananalyses conductedby the WHO RegionalOffice for Africapresented in a reporttitled State of healthin the WHO AfricanRegion: Where weare, where we needto go have shownthat the healthy lifeprogress report on the implementation of theTransformation Agenda (2015-2020) in the WHOA frican Region. This is a pledge I made at thebeginning of my term of office intended to improveour effectiveness, responsiveness and the report indicates, a lot has been achieved onthese aspects in our regional and our country report on the work of WHO in the African region2017-2018 will on the other hand present our keyprogrammatic achievements which I encourage youto read, discuss and ask for clarifications year, the daily regional Committee Journal willbe provided to delegates electronically only.

7 This isone of our modest contributions to save ourenvironment a well-known determinant of publichealth. The WHO Secretariat is at your disposal forany assistance needed during this wish you a successful Matshidiso MoetiWHO regional Director for Africa2018. In addition seven side events will take placeduring the RC. They are on improving PublicFinance Management to advance progresstowards UHC in Africa; tackling the burden ofhypertension and strengthening the managementof severe NCDs through public healthapproaches; launch of The State of HEALTH in theAfrican Region; and Digital HEALTH expansion inAfrica and the AFRO-ITU agreement. Other sideevents are on engaging African governments tostrengthen national HEALTH research systems withcomplementary international cooperation;development and implementation of integratedand affordable assisted reproductive technologies(ART) services in the African Region; and SahelMalaria Elimination Initiative a high levelministerial , the delegates will discuss the ProgrammeBudget 2020-2021: regional CommitteeConsultation document.

8 An exhibition willshowcase the work of WHO and its MemberStates throughout the duration of the BREAK / LUNCHESS nacks, morning and afternoon tea/coffee andlunch will be served free of charge to participantsduring the working days of the Committee. Lunchfor Ministers and all Heads of Delegation will beserved in Le Manguier restaurant. Members ofthe delegations and secretariat staff will have theirlunch in the Adriana and Green rooms that areopposite each other in the main conference (seethe layout in the events app).09:45-09:50 Introduction by the Master of Ceremonies09:50-10:00 Welcome show presented bychildren10:00-10:10 Statement by Dr Pagwesese DavidParirenyatwa, President of theSeventy-first WORLD HealthAssembly and Chairperson of theSixty-seventh - SESSION of theRegional Committee 10:10-10:20 Statement by Dr MatshidisoMoeti, WHO regional Director forAfrica10:10-10:30 Statement by Dr TedrosAdhanom Ghebreyesus,Director-General of WHO10:30-10:35 Film10:35-11:00 Official opening of the Sixty-eighthsession of the regional Committee by the Guest of Honour11:10-11:30 CocktailEnd of the opening ceremonyLike(2)RC68 eJOURNALThe Secretariat of RC68will publish a dailyElectronic Journal(eJournal) which replacesthe printed versionspublished during theprevious RegionalCommittees.

9 The easy-to-use eJournal is designedto improve interactionswith our readers and toreach a wider offers new featuressuch as built-in videos,photo galleries and audio recordings. The eJournalwill be distributed in the three WHO workinglanguages namely English, French and eJournal can be accessed by email on allcomputers, mobile phones, iPads and all types ofmobile devices at any time during the Regionalexpectancy in the WHO African Region increasedfrom years to years between 2012 and2015. This indicator which is a measure of lifeexpectancy adjusted for years spent with disabilityranks as the highest increase in all the six WHOregions. The report points out that the gap in healthy lifeexpectancy between the best and worstperforming countries in the Region has reducedfrom to 22 years. However, there areinequities; with healthy life expectancy beinghighest in countries with better economies andimprovement being fastest in countries with largepopulations and high population density.

10 Thereport however adds that, the levels of healthylife in the Region are still very low compared toother regions .Furthermore, the analyses showed that theburden of disease in the region is now driven bycommunicable and non-communicable (NCD)conditions and violence/injuries. However, lowerrespiratory conditions, HIV/AIDS and diarrhealdiseases still represent the top causes of bothmorbidity and mortality. Yet, levels of morbidityand mortality are reducing Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) due to thetop 10 causes of morbidity have more than halvedbetween 2000 and 2015, driven by reductions inincidence of malaria, HIV/AIDS and diarrhoealdiseases. The crude death rate due to the top 10causes of mortality also reduced from to 100 000 population in the same period. Nosignificant reduction was seen for her foreword to the report, Dr Matshidiso Moetithe WHO regional Director for Africa, said that since the year 2000, the people of Africa havebenefitted from economic growth, with povertylargely in retreat.