The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has expressed concerns about the plight of the 20 million people in need of humanitarian aid, as well as the 3 million internally displaced persons (IDPs).
To address these issues, the ECOWAS Commission and the West African Health Organization (WAHO) are prioritizing health security in the region through active collaboration and concerted efforts among member countries.
Speaking at the opening of the 25th Ordinary Meeting of the ECOWAS Assembly of Health Ministers in Abuja, themed ‘Quality of Health Care in the ECOWAS Region,’ the Chairman of the ECOWAS Commission, Umar Touray, noted that while the subregion has demonstrated capacity and made significant progress in tackling some health issues, much remains to be done to ensure the health security of the population.
“When the Ebola epidemic broke out in 2014, and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, our community spirit and solidarity was put to the test there were several restrictions and closure of some borders, which interrupted commercial and social activities within the region.
“On both occasions, our ministers of health led the charge and ensured that the situations were brought under control and dealt with decisively.
“As we are all aware, our region is currently facing a number of numerous challenges including climate change, insecurity, political instability, all of which have resulted in migration and displacement of persons and communities.
“Indeed, in the ECOWAS region, it is estimated that more than 20 million people need humanitarian aid and more than 3 million are internally displaced persons, mainly due to activities of terrorist groups and political instability”.
Touray, who noted that WAHO has been at the forefront of numerous initiatives to address various challenges, over the years, emphasized “The need to give a pride of place to the quality of all our achievements, interventions, and all along the health system pyramid of our countries”.
In his address, Nigeria’s Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ali Pate, noted that the region faces health challenges that necessitate an innovative approach to overcome.
He said: “Non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and cancers are on the rise, placing a significant burden on our health systems. Additionally, we face mental health issues and substance abuse, emerging as critical public health concerns requiring attention.
“Disparities in healthcare access and quality between urban and rural areas remain a pressing issue. Many of our citizens, particularly those in remote and underserved communities, still face barriers to accessing timely and affordable quality healthcare services.
“Addressing this disparity is essential to achieving universal health coverage and ensuring that no one is left behind”.
To tackle these challenges, Pate emphasized the need for massive, sustained, and well-directed investments, saying, “The region requires both robust health systems and financial systems, as well as trained, retained, and motivated frontline health workers to deliver services.
“Access to care is only one part of the equation; without quality, access will not lead to improved health outcomes. Enhancing both access and quality is essential to improving population health outcomes, and poor-quality care is actually a waste of resources.
“Therefore, investing in quality will only stretch the resources we have to achieve better health outcomes for our populations”.
On his part, the Director General of the West African Health Organization (WAHO), Melchior Athanase Joël Codjovi Aissi, emphasized the importance of political will from member countries in meeting health targets, citing Cape Verde’s elimination of malaria as an example.
Highlighting the importance of collaboration among member countries, Aissi explained why WAHO’s interventions and initiatives in improving the region’s health landscape should be supported by member countries.
He said: “Records have shown that there is a slow improvement of health indicators within ECOWAS member states making it difficult to achieve the SDGs with regards to the deadline
“Thus, community response in the area of health is important as a leverage on which WAHO has already started a process of regional harmonization, taking into account the acceptable minimum set of guidelines by the community within the respect of environmental context.
“WAHO would like that you support it in its initiative which ultimately would help in ensuring a total coverage of all the households in ECOWAS with regards to the health coverage so that we can mitigate risks and threats.
“In this manner, our health systems would enable us to identify early enough the evidence and the causes of diseases instead of preparing us whenever we want to and spending a lot of money for taking into account by helping work on disease”.
