Kinshasa, 11 May 2009 - The WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Luis Gomes Sambo, has reiterated his call for strengthening the capacity for early detection and control of the flu virus in the Region.

He made this call while addressing the opening session of the Extraordinary Meeting of Health Ministers of Central African States in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo on Monday 11 May 2009.

Health ministers and national experts from Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Gabon, Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Chad, Burundi and Equatorial Guinea attended the meeting with technical support provided by WHO.

"It is very important at this stage to create greater awareness of the disease and get all sectors involved particularly the community in order to guarantee the success of preventive and control measures", said Dr Sambo . He further emphasized the need to strengthen laboratory capacity in the subregion to enable rapid case confirmation.

The three-day meeting was called by His Excellency Joseph Kabila Kabange, President of DRC and current Chairman of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS). The meeting was aimed at mapping out ways in which Member States in the subregion can coordinate efforts to control the spread of influenza in the event of an outbreak in the Region.

The ministerial meeting was preceded by a two-day meeting of experts who harmonized influenza preparedness and response strategies in the Region and made recommendations for preventing potential widespread outbreak of the disease.

The health ministers issued a Communiqué at the end of the meeting reaffirming their commitment to tackle infectious diseases in Central Africa, particularly influenza. They undertook to strengthen influenza surveillance, ensure strict implementation of the International Health Regulations (IHRs) and build capacity in epidemic preparedness. They requested WHO and other partners to continue to support ECCAS Member States in reducing the burden of infectious diseases and developing health-related networks.

Over the past two weeks, WHO has dispatched over a million treatment doses of the antiviral (oseltamivir) to all countries in the African Region to enhance their preparedness to handle initial cases.

As of 11 May 2009, 30 countries have reported 4393 lab-confirmed human cases of Influenza A H1N1 including 52 deaths. So far, there is no confirmed case of the virus in the African Region.

For further information please contact:

Collins Boakye-Agyemang, Communications and Advocacy Officer
Tel : 00 47 241 39420
E-mail : boakyec [at] afro.who.int