By TOM CHIAHEMEN, Abuja –
Ministers of Health of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will be holding a virtual meeting on 2 June 2020 to deliberate on the novel corona virus (COVID-19), which has so far infected over 120,000 peoples in Africa as at Tuesday.
The main objective of the meeting, scheduled to start at 10:00am Universal Time, is to “strengthen communication and review regional and national approaches to all major health issues particularly COVID-19,” according to Harvey Hardt-Kaffils, Head of Communications at the West African Health Organisation (WAHO).
The specific objectives of the meeting are:
(1) provide an update on the epidemiological situation across the region, and to discuss lessons learnt and challenges encountered;
(2) update the Ministers on the approaches being used to support the Champion in his coordination efforts; and
(3) discuss post COVID-19 strategies and plans to mitigate impact of the pandemic on other areas such as Maternal Health, Sexual and Reproductive Health, Malaria, Mental Health.
A post-meeting press conference will be held on June 3 for the Director-General of WAHO, Professor Stanley Okolo, who is expected update the media on the discussion held by the Ministers and Experts.
Prof. Okolo will also share the key decisions taken by the Ministers regarding the response to COVID-19 pandemic.