Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – 29 December 2015: The Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), H.E Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, has expressed satisfaction following the recent announcement by the World Health Organisation (WHO), certifying Guinea Conakry as Ebola-Free. This victory over the killer disease comes after Liberia and Sierra Leone had been declared free of the Ebola virus by the WHO. The Ebola pandemic has killed about 11.400 persons in the affected West African countries since 2014.
The African Union together with the continental and international communities worked jointly in combating the deadly disease. “Two years after the Ebola outbreak began in Guinea, the people and government of Guinea, have shown extraordinary resilience, courage and leadership in fighting the epidemic”, stated the AUC Chairperson. She recognized that this victory was possible because the entire African and international communities mobilised in solidarity to support the efforts of the affected countries in fighting Ebola.
According to Dr. Dlamini Zuma, this good news from the WHO is the best thing that could happen to the people of Guinea at this time of the year, given that the New Year 2016 will start with hopes and aspiration for an Ebola-free continent. The AUC Chairperson seized this opportunity to congratulate H.E. Prof. Alpha Condé, President of the Republic of Guinea for his full commitment and cooperation in controlling the epidemic.
“This is another major milestone in the very challenging efforts to ensure that Africans are healthy, that we defeat other diseases still plaguing the continent and build resilient and responsive public health systems, as set out in Agenda 2063,” noted the AUC Chairperson.
The AUC Chairperson underscored the need for continuous strengthening of national, regional and continental surveillance systems in the continent, through the full operationalization of the African Centre for Disease Control. “It gives us, as Africans, great pleasure to see the Republic of Guinea completely relieved by the WHO statement declaring the country Ebola-free” says Dr. Dlamini-Zuma.
She added that, “this very encouraging message confirms that when a continent decides to rally in support of a good cause and work in solidarity and unity to achieve an objective, the results is always very positive and goes a long way in improving the lives of our people”. Dr. Dlamini-Zuma also expressed her gratitude to African leaders who rallied to the call made by the AU Commission for health workers, including the partners who have been and continue to be instrumental in helping the affected countries get to zero. She highlighted the role played by the African private sector which showed its solidarity with the affected countries by donating funds and embarking on other fund raising projects for the ASEOWA mission.
Today is a particularly significant day for the African Union which, through its African Union Support to the Ebola Outbreak in West Africa (ASEOWA) contributed 855 health professionals from 18 African countries to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Of note, this was the largest deployment of volunteers in the entire Ebola response. In each of the affected countries, ASEOWA volunteers were deployed to the hottest spots of the Ebola outbreak and were instrumental to the drastic reduction in new Ebola cases by February 2015. With the support of ASEOWA volunteers, the quality of case investigation and contact listing improved considerably. The time interval from onset of illness to admission at the Ebola Treatment Unit (ETU) also decreased, thereby increasing the survival rate of infected persons.
ASEOWA also played its part in helping to rebuild the health systems in the affected countries.
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About#AfricaAgainstEbola:
The #AfricaAgainstEbola campaign is coordinated by the Africa Against Ebola Solidarity Trust, a registered charity, in partnership with the African Union. All donations made to the Africa Against Ebola Solidarity Trust will be used to train, equip and deploy African health workers in the fight against Ebola and to build long term local health capacity. In partnership with the African Union, our mission is to mobilize resources to send much needed health workers –drawn from within Africa – to the Ebola ‐ afflicted countries. Under the operational coordination of the African Union Support to West Africa (ASEOWA), trained doctors and nurses will care for those infected, help contain the disease and strengthen local hospitals and care centers. Our vision is a resilient Africa that is able to respond effectively and rapidly in times of crisis.
Resource Mobilisation
The African Union recently introduced a campaign, #Africa Against Ebola, to mobilize citizens in the fight against the disease. SMS “Stop Ebola” to7979 or visit the campaign’s official website, http://www.africaagainstebola.org/ to donate $1 or for more information.
For further information:
Directorate of Information and Communication | African Union Commission I E-mail: DIC@african-union.org I Website: www.au.int I Addis Ababa | Ethiopia
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