Morocco reaffirmed, Thursday before the African Union Permanent Representatives’ Committee (PRC) in Addis Ababa, the imperative of strengthening African health infrastructure to eradicate the COVID-19 pandemic and face future health challenges.
Speaking at the first meeting of the PRC, chaired by Senegal, Morocco’s Permanent Representative to the AU and UNECA, Mohamed Arrouchi, noted that the strengthening of health infrastructure in Africa is able to cope with the devastating socio-economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and future health challenges.
During this session, which is being held by videoconference, the Moroccan diplomat noted that the strengthening of these infrastructures should be done through an intergovernmental process involving the relevant national departments.
Arrouchi stressed that quality health infrastructures are essential to mitigate the socio-economic impact of the pandemic which has reached an unprecedented scale.
In this connection, he called on the African Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) to draw up an executive summary on the state of health infrastructure in Africa to enable technical departments in capitals to monitor the epidemiological situation in the continent.
During the session, Africa CDC Director John Nkengasong commended Morocco’s efforts to contain the pandemic on a continental scale, and welcomed the Moroccan proposal, stressing the crucial role of African health infrastructure in addressing the current pandemic and other health challenges facing the continent.