The Heads of State and Government of Member States of the Mano River Union (Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Cote d’Ivoire) and their development partners, including the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Margaret Chan, met in Conakry yesterday, August 1, 2014 to review the status of the Ebola epidemic and adopt common strategies to eradicate Ebola from their respective countries and the sub-region. After the meeting, this was the Communiqué read out by the Secretary General of the Mano River Union, Hadja Saran Daraba Kaba (Dr.) 1. We, the Heads of State and Governments of the Mano River Union, commit to take actions to stop the Ebola outbreak in our Member States. We would like to express our appreciation to all our health personnel and experts in our respective countries who have been supporting us in the fight against Ebola. 2. We have agreed to take important and extraordinary actions at the inter country level to focus on cross-border regions that have more than 70 percent of the epidemic. These areas will be isolated by police and the military. The people in these areas being isolated will be provided with material support. The health care services in these zones will be strengthened for treatment, testing and contact tracing to be done effectively. Burials will be done in accordance with national health regulations. 3. We agree to provide our health personnel incentives, treatment and protection so they could come back to work. We shall ensure the security and safety of all national and international personnel supporting the fight against Ebola. 4. Member States may consider restriction of movement and prohibiting mass gathering as appropriate. 5. Ebola is an international problem that requires an international response. Accordingly, we the Heads of State commit to do our part to bring the Ebola outbreak to an end as soon as possible. To this end, the International Community shall support Member States to build capacity for surveillance, contact tracing, case management and laboratory capacity. 6. We the Heads of State want to assure the international community that the disease is not being exported. We assure the International Community that we have instituted measures at international ports of entry. Line listed contacts and people under surveillance will be listed and the information will be provided to each Member State so the people will not be able to travel outside of their respective countries until surveillance has been lifted. 7. We also appreciate the support of international organizations and NGOs, but as that they work within the framework of our national plans. Communication shall be transparent and coordinated using the structures that have been established within each Member State. We the Member States shall be transparent in how we use your resources to achieve results and we request that all partners shall be transparent and accountable. In her address, the Director General of WHO Margaret Chan registered her organization’s commitment to supporting the implementation of measures that have been developed and agreed upon together by Heads of State of Member Countries. She asked all partners and the International Community to pull their resources whether human, technical and financial to assist the Member States in implementing the plan. The communique is also clear on activities that are expected to be undertaken by partners and those to be jointly done by member countries.
Posted on: Sat, 02 Aug 2014 13:38:48 +0000
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