THE ECOWAS COVID-19 MINISTERIAL COORDINATING COMMITTEE ON HEALTH HELD THEIR FIRST MEETING

3 June 2020 – As a result of the Extraordinary Summit of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government on 23 April 2020, which set up three Ministerial Coordination Committees on Health, Finance and Transport to support H.E. Muhammadu Buhari, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the designated ECOWAS Covid-19 Champion, the Ministerial Coordinating Committee on Health comprising of all 15 ECOWAS Ministers of Health had its first meeting yesterday, 2 June 2020. This was a video-conference chaired by Dr Osagie EHANIRE, Honorable Minister of Health of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, with Prof Stanley OKOLO, Director General of West Africa Health Organization as co-chair.

 

Twelve (12) Ministers participated whilst three (3) were represented by another Minister, a Deputy Minister and a Permanent Secretary. In attendance were the President of the ECOWAS Commission; ECOWAS Commissioner for Infrastructure; ECOWAS Commissioner for Trade, Customs & Free Movement; and ECOWAS Commissioner for Macroeconomic Policy and Economic Research. The meeting was addressed by Dr Moeti, Regional Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) Africa Region, and Dr Nkengasong, Director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

 

The Ministers were concerned that the epidemic continues to spread in the ECOWAS region, although the Member States are at different stages of evolution. They noted that 14 weeks into the pandemic in the region, 35,115 people had been confirmed Covid-19 positive, of whom 56% still had active infection, 42% had recovered and 2% had unfortunately lost their lives as art 1 June 2020. They observed that, despite the improved surveillance and increase in testing, only about 0.11% of the population had been tested to date.

 

The Ministers commended the ECOWAS Commission and WAHO for the technical and financial support to Member States in coordination, financial support, training of personnel, and provision of diagnostic test kits and critical medical supplies including personal protective equipment. They thanked WHO Africa Region, Africa CDC, and Jack Ma Foundation for their support and for donation of critical medical supplies, and expressed profound appreciation to donors and partners who have to date contributed significant funds to the costed ECOWAS regional response plan, particularly the African Development Bank (AfDB), the German Government (BMZ, KFW), European Union, and France (AFD).

The Ministers agreed to:

The Ministers also reflected on sensitizing the public to the fact that Covid-19 infection may be around for some time even in countries where the pandemic has reduced or stabilized, considering that the current lockdowns cannot be applied indefinitely.

 

The Ministers tasked WAHO, to work with the Department for Trade, Customs & Free Movement at ECOWAS Commission, and the Ministerial Coordination Committee on Transport, to develop guidelines and standing operating procedures on regional cross-border movement, whether by air, land or sea, for consideration by the Ministers. These should cover the following areas: