Addis Ababa, September 9, 2014: The African Union has called on all its member
states to urgently lift all travel bans imposed on countries affected by the
Ebola outbreak in Africa. The AU has also called on member states to respect
the principles of free movement and urge that any travel related measures
should be in line with WHO and ICAO recommendations, which supports proper exit
and entry screening procedures at airports, seaports and land crossings instead
of travel bans and border closures.
According to a Foreign Ministry dispatch from
Ethiopia, the AU at an Emergency Meeting of its Executive Council on the Ebola
Virus Disease Outbreak held at the Nelson Mandela Conference Hall in Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia on Tuesday, September 8, 2014, also decided to take all
necessary steps for the rapid establishment of an African Center for Disease
Control and encourages ongoing scientific researches on the use of serums and
vaccines.
The AU said it is also working closely with member states,
international and national organizations, African partners with a view to
mobilizing adequate resources to respond to the EVD crisis, in the spirit of
Africa solidarity and global approach.
The
decision by the AU Executive Council followed earlier presentations made by the
Foreign Ministers of the three worst Ebola affected countries of Liberia,
Guinea and Sierra Leone.
In
his presentation, Liberia’s Foreign Minister Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan told
African Foreign Ministers and Ministers of Health at the meeting that the
continent runs the risk of creating a legacy of blanket stigmatization and
unnecessary restrictions based on the action of some member states against
countries currently affected by the Ebola Virus Disease. Minister Ngafuan said
the action by these member states, if not urgently reconsidered would be
tantamount to “unwittingly writing a dangerous prescription for how countries
on our continent should be treated whenever they get afflicted with any public
health challenge in the future.
”It
is this grim possibility that we all, as African nations, must avoid by
revisiting all measures that are not consistent with expert advice but only fly
in the face of African solidarity and integration” the Liberian Foreign
Minister stressed amidst applause from the delegates at the well-attended
meeting. He called on members of the Executive Council not to allow what he
called hysteria and paranoia to underpin reactions to this Ebola outbreak.“What
is even more heart-rending and ironical is that no country in Europe, Asia, the
Americas, or elsewhere has done to us what some of our fellow African countries
have done to us”, Foreign Minister Ngafuan passionately noted.
He
lifted praises to African countries and members of the international community
including some African countries that have contributed cash and kind to assist
our fight against Ebola. “Among African
countries deserving special mention are
the Federal Republic of Nigeria for committing US$500,000 to assist our fight;
the Democratic Republic of Congo for recently deploying a six-member medical
assessment team to Liberia in advance of the deployment of a larger group of
medical experts to Liberia; the Republic of Ghana for committing to assist in
airlifting critically needed humanitarian supplies to the worst affected
countries; and the Kingdom of Morrocco for maintaining flights of its national
carrier, the Royal Air Maroc, to and from Monrovia,” he remarked in gratitude
while also recognizing SN Brussels of Belgium.
Also
speaking during the AU Executive Council meeting, the UN Under-Secretary General
and Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission of Africa Carlos Lopes
called on African countries putting in place draconian measures that are not
medically justified against Ebola affected to think of themselves being under
the same measures in a not so distant future as the virus have the potential to
spread. He said Ebola can only be tackled through massive investment to address
to address on an urgent basis the contributing factors to the outbreak.
“Countries in the epicenter are over-stretched and they need the whole of
Africa to put a stop to misinformation and a call for action for a substantial
funding of the outbreak control measures”, Mr.Lopes stated.
For
her part, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Dr.Nkosazana Dlamini
Zuma called on AU member nations to ensure Ebola does not spread to other
countries, by implementing effective procedures to detect, isolate and treat those who may be infected and
protect the rest of the populations from infections. She at the same time
called on member states to be careful not to introduce measures that place more
averse social and economic impacts than the disease itself.
The
AU Chairperson said the commission welcomes the work of the WHO to speed up
efforts on treatments and vaccines to halt the spread of Ebola while calling on
the scientific community and pharmaceutical companies on the continent, in the
Diaspora and elsewhere to work together, even in the absence of a business case
for developing treatment and a vaccine for Ebola.
Signed:
Hon. Horatio Bobby Willie
Assistant Minister/Public Affairs