(MENAFNEditorial) Prime Minister Abe attends High-Level Event on Universal Health Coverage in Africa
In his speech, Prime Minister Abe, learning lessons from the Ebola outbreak in Africa, expressed his determination to work with African leaders for strengthening response to public health emergencies
TOKYO, Japan, August 29, 2016/APO/ -- 1.On Friday, August 26, commencing at 4:55 p.m. (local time; 10:55 p.m., Japan time) for approximately 15 minutes, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is visiting Nairobi, the Republic of Kenya, to attend the Sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD VI), attended a high-level event on Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in Africa at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), and delivered akeynotespeech. 2.In his speech, Prime Minister Abe, learning lessons from the Ebola outbreak in Africa, expressed his determination to work with African leaders for strengthening response to public health emergencies and for achieving UHC, which will subsequently contribute to the prevention of and preparedness for health crises from times of peace. Further, Prime Minister Abe emphasized that Japan will collaborate with African countries to construct resilient health systems – especially by facilitating policy and system reforms and human resources development. (Reference)
This side event was held jointly by the Government of Japan, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Government of Kenya, African Union Commission (AUC), World Bank, World Health Organization (WHO) and The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (The Global Fund), from 4:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The main attendees were Mr. Shinichi Kitaoka, President of JICA; Dr. Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank; H.E. Mr. William Ruto, Deputy President of Kenya; H.E Dr. Tedros Adhanom, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia; Dr. Margaret Chan, Director General, WHO; Dr. Mark Dybul, Executive Director, The Global Fund; Dr. Akinwumi Ayodeji Adesina, President, African Development Bank; H.E. Mr. Macky Sall, President of the Republic of Senegal; and Mr. Yasuhisa Shiozaki, Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare (based on the order in which they spoke). With the goal of achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in Africa, The World Bank, WHO, The Global Fund, African Development Bank and Japan jointly announced ''UHC in Africa” as a framework for African countries to refer to when formulating specific national policies. Distributed by APO on behalf of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.