Port Louis (Mauritius), 20 June 2006 -- A seminar to strengthen national capacity for health promotion in Madagascar, the Comoros, Seychelles and Mauritius got underway in the Mauritian capital Tuesday with a call on participants to ensure community participation in, and ownership of, chronic and infectious disease prevention and control programmes.

Opening the seminar on behalf of WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Luis Sambo, the WHO Liaison Officer for Mauritius, Dr Chrishna Nand Bissoonauthsing, said “Evidence on the control and prevention of chronic and infectious diseases does indicate that wherever there is community ownership and participation, the success rate is greater.’’

He also stated that because resources available for disease prevention and control were limited, it was imperative for countries to place the right emphasis on monitoring and control because “we have to account for every cent we use.”

The four-day seminar brings together 24 participants including national health promotion officers, other officials from the ministries of health and education, representatives of civil society, media practitioners and Health Information and Promotion Officers from the WHO country offices in the four Indian Ocean island countries. Its purpose is to equip national Health Promotion focal points and HIPs with the concepts, principles and tools for supporting the development of Health Promotion in countries.

As part of the seminar process, and in view of the urgency to accelerate HIV prevention in the Region, participants and are also expected to discuss acceleration of HIV prevention in the context of the realities on the Indian Ocean island countries. 

The forum will also review the status of Health Promotion in participating countries, forge a common understanding among participants on the basic approaches, concepts and approaches of Health Promotion, identify the major components and actions for the development of national Health Promotion policies and identify key issues and operational steps for the strengthening of national Health Promotion structures and programmes in line with WHO guidelines.

For more information contact:

Technical contact 

Dr David Nyamwaya

Tel. + 47 241 39363

Email:  nyamwayad [at] afro.who.int Media contact

Samuel  Ajibola

Tel. + 47 241 39378
Email: ajibolas [at] afro.who.int