DAR ES SALAAM: THE aspirant for the Director post in the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa, Professor Mohamed Janabi, has outlined seven priorities he will work on once elected.
While presenting his policies and seeking votes from the General Assembly members of the WHO Regional Office for Africa, Professor Janabi said his first priority is to ensure that the Millennium Development Goals are achieved in Africa by collaborating with African countries to reduce diseases to 68 percent of the global target, up from the current 46 percent.
The second priority is to establish strong revenue sources, where Professor Janabi emphasized the policy of universal health coverage in Africa and increasing domestic contributions to reach 50 percent as opposed to the current situation where 80 percent comes from donors and only 20 percent is from within the continent.
The third priority is to strengthen emergency preparedness. He highlighted the importance of Africa being prepared to handle health emergencies at all times, stressing the implementation of control measures for human health issues.
The fourth priority is maternal and child health and nutrition. Professor Janabi noted that the African region leads the world in maternal and child mortality, contributing 70 percent of maternal deaths and 56 percent of deaths of children under five globally. He also mentioned that malnutrition is closely linked to these challenges, and he promised to focus on this issue to reduce the problem.
The fifth priority is combating infectious, non-communicable, and neglected tropical diseases by enhancing strategies to control these diseases and encouraging people to adopt healthier lifestyles to reduce infections.
The sixth issue Professor Janabi plans to address is combating the growing problem of antibiotic resistance, which is currently causing 1.27 million deaths in Africa.
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The seventh and final priority is to build the capacity for drug production within Africa. Professor Janabi used the COVID-19 pandemic as an example, which showed how Africa was unprepared to deal with such crises.
