Parliamentarians from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), meeting in Conakry, Guinea, as part of a detached meeting of one of the joint parliamentary commissions, attended three communications focused on health services and education on Wednesday, September 4, 2024.
These communications focused on the need for West African states to have effective and efficient communication strategies to support their health systems, the importance of new information technologies in promoting health education, and the role of the West African Health Organization (WAHO) in promoting the health of the region’s populations.
Presented by Dr. Kanda Daouda, the first communication aimed to raise awareness among parliamentarians about the importance of the determinants of health so that they can do the same with the community and, above all, have legislative initiatives in this direction, remind them of the need for a change in behavior, and finally present them with a communication project plan to encourage their active participation in the dissemination and implementation of a communication strategy.
While recalling that health is a fundamental human right, Dr. Kanda Daouda acknowledged that there is no health without the preconditions of peace, sufficient economic resources, adequate food and housing, a stable ecosystem, and the sustainable use of resources.
To this end, parliamentarians must play a key role in advocating for a change in behavior through networks they have created, calling on governments to innovate for health promotion, strengthening the capacities of stakeholders in the field, and mobilizing the media for effective and efficient communication.
For the second communication, Dr. Jacob Kassam focused on the importance of new information technologies in promoting health services and education among populations as this would improve access to healthcare and encourage telemedicine.
According to Dr. Jacob, “telecommunications play an important role in health services and in educating populations.” And for this reason, parliamentarians of the community must advocate for the availability of connectivity in the most remote areas of their respective countries.
As for the third communicator, the Director General of the West African Health Organization, Dr. Melchior Joel, particularly emphasized the various supports his institution provides to the various country programs in the health sector. In this regard, he specified that some 125 sub-projects focusing on activities aimed at creating a demand for family planning, the education of the girl child and ensuring the continuation of studies, improving the provision of sexual and reproductive health services, are supported by WAHO in the sub-region.
The Director General of WAHO also highlighted the working experience and relations between WAHO and the ECOWAS Parliament which include: the promulgation and adoption of the law on HIV/AIDS, the Demographic Dividend and Health Financing (ECOWAS Inter-Parliamentary Committee), the fight against Malaria (Parliamentary Network for the Fight against Malaria), Steering Committee in charge of coordinating efforts to support countries in managing health issues.