ECOWAS Health Ministers meet in Freetown

The 11th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of ECOWAS health ministers meeting ended over the weekend in Freetown, Sierra Leone with calls from The Gambia's health minister Dr. Abubacarr Gaye for more dissemination of health information within the sub-region.

The meeting, which was officially opened by Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma, the President of Sierra Leone is being organised by the West Africa Health Organisation (WAHO) and the Ministry of Health and Sanitation of the ECOWAS member countries.

The ministers at the end of the meeting adopted the resolution of the health experts.

Speaking at the meeting, Dr. Gaye said taking note of the recent denue fever in Cape Verde, in which many countries were not alerted, there is a need for more collaboration in the dissemination of health information.

He urged ECOWAS ministers to be sharing more information as diseases have no boundaries, and thus need to be tackled with urgency. Health Minister Gaye also stressed the need for a vigorous promotion of traditional medicine, taking into consideration its accessibility.

Also, speaking earlier, the Director General of WAHO Placido Cardoso stated that the ECOWAS health ministers meet annually to discuss health issues confronting the ECOWAS region, noting that the meeting will also avail the ministers to address some of the problems facing the health sector of the member states.

Mr. Cardoso noted that the meeting will enable ministers come up with a final resolution, through which WAHO will implement in the respective ECOWAS member countries.

Also, part of the Gambian delegation at the meeting were the Director of Health Services, Dr. Bekai Camara and the Deputy Permanent Secretary for Technical, Dr. Omar Sey, who also double as the WAHO Liason Officer at the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.