Regional Animal Health Centre crucial to ‘One Health’ – Ministers

The ECOWAS Commission has been tasked to urgently ensure that the Regional Animal Centre in Bamako, Mali becomes operational.
Ministers of Human Health, Animal Health and Environment made the call at the end of the Ministerial Meeting of ECOWAS ‘One Health’ Policy Coordination Platform held in Abuja, Nigeria on Saturday.
They posited that the operation of the Centre is crucial to full implementation of ‘One Health’ in region.
At the end of the meeting, which was also attended by representatives of WHO, FAO and OIE, the ministers have stressed the need for the countries and the region to quickly start interdisciplinary and trans-sectoral dialogue necessary for the coordination of effort and the leveraging of energies to ensure our region obtain the required capacities to prevent, detect and respond to infectious diseases’ threats.
They also renewed their commitments to the Dakar Resolution on the ‘One Health’ approach.
The ministers invited ECOWAS to take all the necessary steps to ensure that the Bamako-based ECOWAS Regional Animal Health Center becomes operational to enable it play fully its role in the implementation of the ‘One Health’ in the region.
The ministers also adopted unanimously the terms of reference of the ‘One Health’ Policy Coordination Platform as well as its 2017-2018 roadmap and they pledge their support to ensure its success.”
At the opening, Director General of WAHO, Dr. Xavier Crespin, had stressed the need for multisectoral approach for implementation of ‘One Health’ in the region.
He commended WAHO key partners: the World Health Organization (WHO), Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and World Animal Health Organization (OIE) for their support in realising the ‘One Health’ policy.
The one-day meeting held at the ECOWAS Commission secretariat in Abuja, was fully sponsored by the World Bank.