Harare - The 44th SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government has directed the convening of an urgent meeting of health ministers to assess the impact of monkeypox and propose a coordinated regional response to control the spread of the disease.
The final communiqué of the event held Saturday in Harare, Zimbabwe, indicates that the heads of state consider the monkeypox situation on the continent and in the region as a Public Health Emergency.
They therefore urged Member States to strengthen disease surveillance, diagnostic testing and clinical care, infection prevention and control, as well as awareness of the disease at all levels of the community.
The Summit expressed its solidarity and support for member states affected by monkeypox and also asked the World Health Organization and other partners to provide the necessary resources to combat the disease in the region.
Regarding the prevention of natural disasters, he urged member states to continuously monitor meteorological and climate risks, including events induced by the El Niño phenomenon and to define contingency measures to mitigate the impact of potential disasters.
In this regard, he directed members to implement the SADC Regional Humanitarian Appeal against Drought and Floods Induced by the El Niño Phenomenon, launched by the SADC President at the Extraordinary Summit held in May this year.
On another level, the Harare meeting adopted and signed the SADC Declaration on the Protection of Persons with Albinism, which affirms the collective determination of Member States to take the necessary measures, at regional and national levels, to address the challenges faced by persons with albinism.
SADC industrialization
The summit approved the motto “Promoting innovation to unlock opportunities for sustained economic growth and development towards an industrialized SADC”, which recognizes innovation as a key instrument with significant potential to boost priority manufacturing sectors.
The motto takes into account the growth of the mineral and agro-processing sectors to strengthen the industrialization and economic growth of the SADC region.
According to the final communiqué, the statesmen noted that the Agreement establishing the Tripartite Free Trade Area (FTAA) between the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the East African Community and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) entered into force on July 25 this year.
It provides opportunities for SADC member states to access a large market of 26 countries, with a population of about 700 million people and a GDP of USD 1 billion.
The 44th SADC Summit was marked by the handover of the rotating presidency from the Angolan Head of State to his Zimbabwean counterpart, Emmerson Mnangagwa. IZ/ART/DOJ
