The President of Economic Community of West African States Commission, Mr. Kadre Quedraogo has described the
Ebola Virus Disease epidemic as a regional security issue.
Speaking at the Health Partners
Coordinating Committee meeting on
Thursday at the Federal Ministry of
Health in Abuja, Mr. Quedraogo said he
took the opportunity of the high-level
meeting of the coordinating body for
bilateral and multilateral partnerships
in Nigeria to pay a courtesy visit to the
Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi
Chukwu.
“I convey to the government of Nigeria
the total solidarity and support of
ECOWAS in this very courageous
struggle against the Ebola epidemic,” he
said
“ECOWAS also has suffered the
devastating effect of this epidemic
because we lost one of our dedicated
staff and we received support and
assistance from the minister in handling
this very sad case.
“We fully appreciate what the
international community, the health
authority in Nigeria, the health
personnel are doing. I want to pay
tribute to the courage of all the people
involved in managing this epidemic in
Nigeria. We appreciate their actions.
This has been considered as a very
security issue for ECOWAS,” he added.
According to a statement issued by the
Special Assistant to the Health Minister
on Media and Communication, Dan
Nwomeh the ECOWAS President said at
an extraordinary meeting of ECOWAS
Ministers of Health convened by
President John Mahama of Ghana in his
capacity as the Chairman of ECOWAS
which took place in Accra on August 28,
saying that the meeting took far
reaching measures on the containment
of Ebola in the region at the level of the
Ministers of Health and also at the level
of the Heads of State and Government.
The priority in Accra, he noted, was to
assist the affected countries in
containing the epidemic.
He said, “We considered the critical
issue of free movement of persons and
goods in the region. Since the outbreak
of the disease, many member states
have started closing their borders or
restricting movement of persons. We
pleaded against stigmatisation and
condemnation and urged member states
to work together in total solidarity. The
spirit of oneness and solidarity is the
essence of ECOWAS and we should not
lose the very foundation of our
community because of this epidemic.”
He cautioned that isolating countries
affected by the epidemic would be
counter-productive as closing borders
will not only undermine the essence of
economic union which is the free
movement of persons and goods but
could also deny them the financial
resources to face the epidemic.
He said surveillance measures were
recommended for member states to
apply which include screening of
passengers at exit and entry points to
any country. Explaining how this will
work, the ECOWAS Quedraogo said
there was a proposal for each member
state to select one land, sea and air
entry point to be jointly monitored by
member states to reassure any
government of adequate measures to
screen passengers before they enter any
country.
He emphasised that where there was
need to close the border this should be
preceded by consultation among
countries concerned with the views of
World Health Organisation and the West
African Health Organisation taken into
consideration to make sure that such
measures are necessary.
Responding, Chukwu expressed
appreciation to ECOWAS for its key role
in the containment activities against the
EVD in Nigeria.
Likening the containment efforts to
waging a war, he stressed the
importance of team work towards a
common purpose and assured of the
readiness of Nigeria to cooperate with
ECOWAS in that regard.