The Angolan Ministry of Health will continue to promote covid-19 vaccination “as the main strategy to fight the disease” after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the end of the global health emergency.
At a press conference, Secretary of State for Public Health Carlos Alberto Pinto said that Angola welcomes the WHO declaration “which means a victory for medical workers, the scientific community and all other participants, with a focus on countless sacrifices for the entire population.”
Carlos Alberto Pinto said that today vaccination is the most important element in the fight against the emergency phase of the pandemic worldwide.
“Therefore, he will continue to promote covid-19 vaccination in the country as the main disease control strategy to save lives, reduce the number of serious cases and deaths that are still being recorded in the country,” the minister said. State of Public Health of Angola.
The minister stressed that vaccination coverage in Angola is currently 47% with at least two doses, noting that for it to be effective on herd immunity, it must exceed 85%, according to WHO, “this is a problem in the country in which all are called to participate.”
Health Mystery is adapting the country’s contingency plan to WHO’s long-term plan for COVID-19 2023-2025, in which it will adopt additional recommendations for this transition phase to the current measures in accordance with the epidemiological situation. vaccination coverage in the country,” he stressed.
In this sense, Carlos Alberto Pinto called “once again for the population to adhere to vaccination, as it saves lives and allows the WHO to reduce the level of preparedness.”
Angola notified the first two cases of covid-19 on March 21, 2020, with 105,669 cases and 1,936 deaths by May 5 this year, going through four waves driven by variants of global concern.
Carlos Alberto Pinto praised Angola’s health care system for having withstood the pressures of demand, “not once collapsing, guaranteeing the continuity of health services to the population.”
On March 2, 2021, Angola included the implementation of the Vaccination Plan, “which was critical to the successful management of the pandemic in terms of the number of serious cases and deaths,” said Carlos Alberto Pinto.
“Given this history, the Ministry of Health takes note of the warnings of the Director-General of WHO in his statement of caution and prudence regarding this news,” he said, stressing that the transition from an emergency to the covid-19 control phase is already underway.
The process includes some measures such as integrating the covid-19 vaccine into routine vaccination, i.e. the entire population over 12 years of age should receive at least two doses; strengthening epidemiological surveillance, which means testing suspected cases and contacts and mandatory notification of all positive cases and deaths, as well as presenting a certificate of vaccination when entering or leaving the country or, otherwise, a negative test for covid-19.
In turn, the WHO Representative in Angola, Jamila Cabral, stressed that “the covid-19 pandemic has not ended, the anxiety” faced by the world has decreased.
“We are asking the Ministry of Health to integrate COVID-19 activities, namely surveillance and response, into regular health programs, and we remain committed to continue supporting the country to achieve the best vaccination coverage,” he said.
WHO will also set up a review committee to develop long-term recommendations for the treatment of COVID-19, Jamila Cabral said.
The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday declared the end of the global health emergency due to COVID-19, accepting the recommendation of the emergency committee.
“Over the past year, the emergency committee and the WHO have carefully analyzed the data, considering when is the right time to lower the level of anxiety. Yesterday the emergency committee met for the 15th time and recommended asking me to declare the end of the global emergency. I accepted this advice,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at a press conference.
The cancellation of the global public health emergency (PHEIC, its abbreviation in English), the highest level of alert that the organization can impose, “does not mean that covid-19 has ceased to be a health threat,” he said.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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