{The Kenyan capital Nairobi will host an emergency East African Community meeting on the Ebola crisis later this month, EAC Secretary General Richard Sezibera has announced.
}
He told Tuesday afternoon’s session of the East African Legislative Assembly in Dar es Salaam that the plan is for the regional bloc to come up with concrete ideas on how to “quickly and effectively” contain the spread of deadly disease that has killed nearly 2,000 people, mainly in West Africa.
The disease, which was first reported in Guinea before spreading to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Democratic Republic of Congo, has since seen been declared an international crisis.
According to Dr Sezibera, the meeting is lined up for September 17 and will involve the health and transport ministers and experts from all the five EAC partner states and neighbouring countries as well as World Health Organisation officials.
In earlier remarks in the House, he said the East African Community Civil Aviation Safety and Security Oversight Agency (CASSOA) has already hosted an emergency meeting in Entebbe, Uganda, on what could be a common approach to Ebola threat in the EAC region.
“I will be in good position to tell this House what the measures that the Community has agreed to put in place are, but that will be after the meeting set for Nairobi,” he said.
He made the remarks in response to a report tabled by Angela Kizigha, a Tanzania EALA member who chairs the House committee on communication, trade and investment in the EAC aviation sector.
The House also heard Ugandan EALA member Suzan Nakawuki moved a motion for a resolution urging the EAC Council of Ministers to put in place measures to “handle and manage the Ebola outbreak” in the region.
IPP Media
Leave a Reply