Health Program

December 3, 2021 (DJIBOUTI, Djibouti): The Minister of Health of Djibouti yesterday closed the High-level Regional Experts Meeting on Health for Refugees, Returnees and Host Communities in the IGAD Region organised by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

This three-day meeting brought together representatives from ÍGAD member countries ministries of Health, from National Refugee commissions/agencies, National Consultative Mechanisms (NCM) Focal persons or coordinators, and representative from the ministries of Foreign Affairs.

During the three-day meeting, participants:

• Provided updates about Nairobi process including health efforts in IGAD member states;
• Discussed the recommendations of refugee assessment report;
• Identified refugee Health priority interventions; and
• Developed a Plan of Action for refugee health, returnees and host communities to be endorsed by Ministers of Health and Ministers in Charge of Refugees.

In his closing remarks, the Minister said his conviction that the meeting had enabled “to identify priority actions to achieve common objectives and that the full and effective integration of refugee populations into the health systems of our respective countries."

In her opening remarks on day one, the Director of Health and Social Development Division at IGAD “from the onset thanked “all delegates from Member States, GIZ, the European Union and UNHCR who took their time for the support and collaboration of the process for Nairobi Declaration and plan of action and efforts to organize this important regional meeting.

“Member states mandated IGAD Secretariat to operationalise, follow-up and monitor the implementation of the commitments of Nairobi Action Plan in collaboration with UNHCR, other development and operational partners, the private sector, civil society organizations, youth and women groups among others”, she continued.

The Secretary General of the Ministry of Health of Djibouti who did officially inaugurate the meeting three days ago, Dr Salah Banoita, declared his hope that at the end of the workshop, decision-makers and experts from IGAD countries translate the ambitions of the Nairobi Declaration on refugees into inclusive activities so that our health systems allow better care for refugees, and thus help mitigate the risks posed by diseases, in particular communicable diseases, on refugees and host populations”.

The outcome of the meeting will be a draft Plan of Action for Refugee Health, Returnees and Host Communities based on the identified priority health interventions and areas.

This report will the basis for the discussion to develop Health plan of action and draw the commitment for a declaration on health for refugees, returnees and host communities in-line with Nairobi declaration.

IGAD secretariat commissioned a regional assessment in all member states to explore the current state on the implementation of health thematic area in line with the provisions of the Nairobi Declaration for Refugees, IDPs, Returnees, Migrants, Cross Border Mobile Populations and Host Communities. The assessment aimed at identifying gaps and bottlenecks, existing opportunities and to generate recommendations for improvement and long term integration.

RTD

20 November, 2021 (Arta, Djibouti): As part of the regional response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD) in close collaboration with the Ministry of Health of Djibouti organized a 3-days training workshop for 15 Health care providers at the Sunny Hill hotel complex in Arta.

Introduction

Regional pharmaceutical production in the IGAD region has received minimal support from the international community because most procurement systems encourage purchase of cheap imported medicines rather than investing in local production. Promotion of regional manufacture of essential medicines complements the continental agenda of the African Union, the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plan for Africa (PMPA) endorsed in 2007 by member states. The advent of COVID-19 augments the need to foster private sector stakeholder engagement within the pharmaceutical industry with the aim of strengthening the regional manufacture of essential lifesaving medicines. This conference will examine and discuss the challenges and opportunities in pharmaceutical manufacturing in the Horn of Africa in the context of COVID-19 pandemic. IGAD is convinced that making the case for collaborative investments in manufacturing will be cost effective if manufacturers can target the region rather than individual countries.

Guidelines for submission of Abstracts

This call invites ischolars and practitioners especially those from the continent of Africa and IGAD region with expertise in the subject matter to submit abstracts. Submitted abstracts should relate to the conference themes and follow the guideline below. Please ensure that you read and conform to the guidelines set out
below before submitting an abstract.

• Abstracts should be written in English or French and be 250-300 words excluding the abstract title, authors and their designations and INCLUDES up to 3 references (Harvard style) where necessary and appropriate.
https://libguides.mq.edu.au/referencing/Harvard;

Abstracts must use the following outline (with the exception of case reports):

• Background
• Aims, objective or purpose
• Methods
• Results
• Conclusion

For case reports ONLY use the following section headings:

• Background
• Case Summary
• Conclusion

• Interested authors should send a one-page CV/ bio, with latest publications and contact details (email address and phone numbers);

• Submissions should indicate the theme that the abstract falls under. Please select the most appropriate topic category that fits into your submission from this list below and indicate thematic number in your submission:

1. Theme A1: Impact of coronavirus pandemic on manufacturing and supply chains in the Horn of Africa
2. Theme A2: National and regional policies and trade-related challenges that affect manufacturing in the Horn of Africa
3. Theme A3: Potential opportunities for manufacture of innovative medicines and vaccines in the Horn of Africa.
4. Theme A4: Opportunities for pharmaceutical bulk pooled procurement in IGAD region

• Please send your abstracts and other documents to this e-mail address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Important Dates

Deadline for submission of abstracts: August 31st, 2021

Notification of acceptance of abstracts: September 20th, 2021

Conference Dates: October 20-21, 2021

Information to note

 The decision of the reviewers and IGAD Secretariat on the acceptability of a submission is final.

 The reviewers and IGAD Secretariat reserve the right to accept or refuse an abstract and to choose a suitable session for the abstract.

 Declaration of Consent to Publication and Assignation of Copyright: By submitting an abstract the authors collectively accept that the submitted abstract constitutes my consent to publication (e.g. conference website, programs, other promotions, etc.). The Abstract Submitter also grants the IGAD Secretariat a royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable nonexclusive license to use, reproduce, publish, translate, distribute, and display the Content. The IGAD Secretariat reserve the right to remove from any publication an abstract which does not comply with the above. The corresponding author is responsible for informing the other authors about the status of the abstract.

Partners: This Conference is organized by IGAD, United States Agency for International Development/Kenya and East Africa (USAID/KEA), United States Pharmacopeia Convention-Program on Quality of Medicines Plus (USP-PQM+), and the Medicines Technologies and Pharmaceutical Services (MTaPS) Program in cooperation with member states.

Organising committee: Please contact the conference secretariat if you have any queries regarding abstract submission. For any enquiries regarding the conference call for abstracts, please contact:

Hafsa Bashir Yussuf
IGAD Secretariat
IGAD Health and Social Development
Kenya Medical Training College - Karen Campus
P.O. Box 24921,
Nairobi – 00502, Kenya
T: + 254 710 241 313 or +254 724 065 344
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.